Child contact denied over maintenance arrears

Short answer: No. Contact with your child and child maintenance are treated as entirely separate issues in the law of England and Wales. One cannot lawfully be used as a bargaining chip or lever against the other.

Legal position:

The right to spend time with a parent is regarded as the child's right, not the parent's. A parent who is receiving child maintenance cannot unilaterally withhold contact because the paying parent has fallen behind on payments. Equally, a paying parent cannot refuse to pay maintenance simply because contact is being denied. The courts have been very clear that these are two distinct matters and that linking them is not in the child's best interests.

If your ex is preventing contact on this basis, that does not have any legal justification. The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration under section 1 of the Children Act 1989, and a child's welfare is generally served by having a meaningful relationship with both parents.

What you can do practically:

1. Put it in writing. Send your ex a calm, clear message (text, email, or letter) stating that you wish to maintain contact with your child and that withholding contact over maintenance arrears is not lawful. Keep a copy of everything.

2. Try to resolve the maintenance issue separately. If you are struggling to pay, contact the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to discuss a variation or revised calculation. Showing a willingness to engage with this issue puts you in a much stronger position on contact.

3. Consider mediation. If your ex will not agree to contact informally, a family mediator can help you reach an arrangement. You would normally be expected to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) before making a court application in any event.

4. Apply for a Child Arrangements Order. If informal efforts and mediation do not resolve matters, you can apply to the family court under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 for an order setting out when the child is to spend time with you. The court will focus entirely on the child's welfare and will not treat maintenance arrears as a reason to refuse contact.

5. Keep a record. Note every occasion on which contact is refused, including dates, the reason given, and any messages. This will be useful if the matter goes to court.

Important points to be aware of:

The court fee for a Child Arrangements Order application (Form C100) is currently £232, though fee remission may be available depending on your financial circumstances.

If there is already a court order in place for contact and your ex is breaching it, you can apply for enforcement. The court has a range of powers including unpaid work requirements and, in serious cases, committal.

On the maintenance side, if you simply stop engaging with the CMS or ignore arrears, enforcement action can be taken against you, including deductions from earnings, liability orders, and in extreme cases removal of driving licences or passports. It is always better to engage proactively if your circumstances have changed.

The key message is that these two issues run on separate tracks. Deal with the maintenance arrears constructively and pursue your contact rights through the proper channels. Neither issue should be held hostage by the other.