Last Updated on: July 31, 2026

No, not automatically at 18. The Child Maintenance Service can continue child maintenance up to age 20 if your child stays in approved, full-time education or training, because CMS maintenance is tied to Child Benefit rather than to a birthday.

Once your child leaves education, starts an advanced course like university, or turns 20, payments stop.

Key takeaways:

• CMS child maintenance can run until your child’s 20th birthday, but only while they stay in approved, full-time non-advanced education or training.
• Payments stop automatically on the last day of February, May, August or November after your child leaves education, or on their 20th birthday.
• University-level study, such as a degree or BTEC Higher National Certificate, does not usually keep CMS child maintenance running past that point.
• Arrears built up before your child turned 18 stay owed and can be pursued through wage or bank deductions, even after payments officially stop.

Do I have to pay child support after age 18 UK?

The CMS can only assess and collect child maintenance for a qualifying child/young person, generally under 16, or under 20 if they’re in approved education or training.

Here’s the key point people miss:

• CMS child maintenance is linked to Child Benefit, so when Child Benefit stops or should stop, CMS maintenance often stops too.

And yes, it does not always stop on your child’s 18th birthday.

What child support usually means in the UK?

Most of the time, one of these is in play:

Note: This article is general information, not legal advice. If your situation is complex (disability, overseas, disputes, existing court order), it’s worth getting tailored advice.

When does Child Maintenance Service (CMS) child maintenance stop?

CMS guidance is direct on this: your child maintenance payments stop automatically when either of these happens, whichever comes first:

• Your child turns 20.
• Your child completes their approved education or training course, payments then stop on the last day of February, May, August or November, whichever of those four dates comes next.

Automatic stop dates run quarterly, not fixed to 31 August

A common misconception is that CMS maintenance always ends on 31 August, tied to school-leaving age. As of 2026, GOV.UK guidance sets four possible stop dates across the year based on when your child actually finishes their course, not a single fixed date.

If your child finishes college in December, for example, payments stop at the end of February, not the following August.

Can it continue until 20?

Yes, up to 20 is possible if they remain in approved education or training.

What counts as approved education or training after 18?

This is where most confusion sits. A helpful way to think about it: CMS maintenance can continue for older teens in full-time, non-advanced education (for example, many A-level / equivalent routes), and it’s tightly tied to whether Child Benefit remains payable.

A few precise rules decide whether a course actually qualifies, and they trip up more parents than the general “is it non-advanced” test:

• Education must be full-time, on average more than 12 hours a week of supervised study or course-related work experience. If your child has an illness or disability, fewer hours can still count if that’s appropriate for them.
• Your child must be accepted onto the course before they turn 19.
• Qualifying courses include A levels and equivalents (Pre-U, International Baccalaureate), T Levels, GCSEs, Scottish Highers, National 5s, and most NVQs and vocational qualifications up to level 3, but not intermediate or advanced apprenticeships.
• A course paid for by an employer doesn’t qualify, and courses that are part of a job contract aren’t approved either.

Let’s explore the two big questions people ask next.

Do you pay child maintenance if your child goes to university in the UK?

In many cases, CMS child maintenance ends before university, because CMS eligibility is tied to being under 20 in approved education/training, and university is generally treated differently from non-advanced education.

That said, plenty of parents still choose to support their child through uni via:

• A private arrangement (agreed contributions), or
• A Schedule 1 order under the Children Act 1989, the specific court route used when parents can’t agree on contributions toward tuition, rent, or living costs once CMS has stopped, particularly where there’s disability or another special circumstance.

A Schedule 1 order isn’t automatic and isn’t limited to disability cases; either parent, or in some situations the young person themselves, can apply to the court for one once CMS eligibility has ended.

If you’re thinking “but my paperwork says I pay through uni”, double-check whether you’re looking at a CMS case, a private agreement, or a court order. Those are not the same thing.

What if your child starts an apprenticeship or gets a job?

This is often the practical trigger for “Should payments stop now?” Because CMS maintenance is linked to Child Benefit, the turning point is often whether the young person is still in approved education/training (and whether Child Benefit continues).

A common real-world pattern:

• Part-time work while staying in qualifying education may not automatically end eligibility.
• Starting paid work / leaving approved education often ends Child Benefit, so CMS maintenance usually ends soon after the relevant cut-off.

If you’re unsure, your “next step” isn’t guessing; it’s checking the child’s education/training status and the linked benefit status.

What to do if you think payments should stop without creating arrears?

Because CMS is linked to Child Benefit, changes around education/training are usually handled via HMRC Child Benefit reporting. That link is a big reason people end up confused about timing.

Here’s what you can do next (keep it simple and document-led):

• Ask for written confirmation of the child’s course name, start/end date, and whether it’s full-time
• Keep copies of any messages/letters about leaving education, starting work, or course completion
• If you use CMS, don’t just stop paying without checking how CMS will treat the end date (to avoid arrears disputes)

That’s the practical path most people wish they’d taken earlier.

CMS vs court-ordered support after 18: when can payments continue?

CMS child maintenance is one system. Courts are another, and sometimes courts can get involved in financial provision in situations that go beyond routine CMS maintenance (for example, disability/special circumstances).

If you have:

• An existing court order.
• A child with significant additional needs.
• A dispute about ongoing support.

Get proper advice before you assume CMS rules are the whole story.

Can you refuse to pay, and what actually happens if you do?

You can’t simply decide to stop paying because your child turned 18 or because you disagree with the CMS calculation, if a case is still active, the liability stands until CMS formally ends it.

If a paying parent misses payments, the CMS can:

• Take deductions directly from wages or a bank account.
• Apply for a liability order through the court, which can lead to bailiff action, disqualification from driving, or loss of a passport.
• As a last resort, ask a court to consider imprisonment, though this doesn’t clear the debt itself.

Arrears can be pursued indefinitely and don’t get written off just because your child has grown up or the case has closed.

Separately, if you have no income and are either a full-time student or in prison, you’re not required to pay child maintenance while that’s the case, but this applies to your own circumstances, not your child’s age or education status.

Does this differ in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland?

CMS eligibility rules are the same across Great Britain, but the approved training schemes that count toward the under-20, in-training rule are set nation by nation:

• In Wales: Foundation Apprenticeships, traineeships, or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme.
• In Scotland: the No One Left Behind programme (training must still be unpaid).
• In Northern Ireland: PEACE IV Children and Young People 2.1, Training for Success, or Skills for Life and Work.

If your child is on one of these schemes rather than in a school or college course, check it against the specific scheme name, a generic “apprenticeship” answer isn’t enough to confirm whether it qualifies.

Real-world examples

Example 1: My child is 18 and still in sixth form.

If it’s full-time, non-advanced education and Child Benefit continues, CMS maintenance can continue (potentially up to 20).

Example 2: My child turned 18 and started university.

Many parents see CMS stop (or expect it to stop) around this transition, because the university doesn’t usually fit the same “qualifying” category for CMS.

Example 3: My child left college in March.

The critical action is notifying HMRC Child Benefit promptly; end dates often follow the established cut-offs rather than the exact day they stopped attending.

Final summary

So, Do i have to pay child support after age 18 UK?

• Sometimes yes (especially if your child stays in approved education/training and Child Benefit continues, potentially up to 20).
• Sometimes no (often around university or when they leave education/training).
• The fastest way to get unstuck is to follow the link between education status → Child Benefit → CMS end date.

Here’s what you can do next: Pull together the child’s course details (full-time? end date?) and check them against the official “when it stops” rules. That single step prevents most “I stopped paying and got hit with arrears” messes.

FAQ

Does a father legally have to pay child maintenance?

Yes, legal parents have a financial duty to their children regardless of gender. CMS assesses maintenance based on income and care arrangements, not which parent is applying or being assessed.

Do I stop paying child maintenance at 18?

Not automatically. CMS maintenance can run until your child turns 20 if they stay in approved, full-time education or training, it only stops at 18 if they’ve already left qualifying education.

Are your parents still legally responsible for you after 18?

Parental responsibility itself doesn’t create an ongoing legal duty to pay child maintenance once a child is no longer a qualifying young person, though private or court-ordered support can still continue by agreement.

Can you refuse to pay child support in the UK?

Not without consequence. If a CMS case is active, the CMS can recover unpaid maintenance through wage or bank deductions, court-obtained liability orders, and, in serious cases, driving licence or passport restrictions.

What is a Schedule 1 order and can it make me pay for university?

A Schedule 1 order is a Children Act 1989 court order used once CMS eligibility ends. A court can order contributions toward tuition, rent, or living costs, though it isn’t automatic or guaranteed.

Do child maintenance arrears end when my child turns 18?

No. Arrears built up while a case was active remain owed after your child turns 18 or 20, and CMS can continue recovering them through enforcement action even once regular payments have stopped.

Does being a full-time student or in prison affect who has to pay?

Yes. If the paying parent has no income and is a full-time student or in prison, they aren’t required to pay child maintenance for that period, though this depends on their circumstances, not the child’s age.

Fact-checked and updated against GOV.UK Child Maintenance Service guidance, July 2026.