I have a child, but I am not married. What financial claims can be made?

Can I claim money for myself if we were never married?

No. Unmarried partners cannot claim maintenance from each other when they separate, however long they lived together. There is no “common law marriage” in England and Wales, although almost half of people believe there is (British Social Attitudes survey, 2019). You have no claim to your former partner’s pension, and no automatic share of property in their name.

The law protects your child instead and claims for your child can help you indirectly. A Schedule 1 award can include household costs linked to caring for the child, and a home provided for the child which is also where you live as their carer. The government consulted on new rights for cohabitants in 2026, but the law has not changed yet.

What financial claims can be made for a child?

How does child maintenance work if we were not married?

Child maintenance works the same way whether or not you were married. Either parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which calculates payments based on the paying parent’s gross taxable income (less pension contributions), the number of children, and how many nights they stay with each parent. Parents can also agree an amount between themselves.

How much child maintenance will the CMS order?

The CMS can make orders in respect of income up to £3,000 gross per week (£156,000 gross per annum). Lower rates apply to income below £200 a week.  If an individual has unearned income such as dividends or rental income then a variation application will have to be made.

Where the parents share care of the child(ren) there will be a reduction dependent upon how many nights the child stays with the paying parent.

What is a Schedule 1 claim?

A Schedule 1 claim is an application to the family court for financial provision for a child under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989. It is the main way an unmarried parent can ask for more than the CMS can award, including provision for housing, lump sums and school fees.

Although there is no minimum wealth threshold for bringing a Schedule 1 claim, many of the reported cases involve high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth parents because there must be sufficient financial resources available for the court to make substantial provision.

• Who can apply: a parent, a guardian or special guardian, or anyone named in a child arrangements order as a person the child lives with.  In some circumstances, a young person aged 18 or over can apply against their own parents.
• Who pays: either or both parents. A step-parent can be included only if they were married to, or in a civil partnership with, the child’s parent.
• What the court can order: periodical payments (secured or unsecured), lump sums, a settlement of property for the child’s benefit, or a transfer of property to the applicant for the child’s benefit, or to the child.
• What the court considers: the court is required (by statute) to take into account all the circumstances, each parent’s income, earning capacity, property and other resources; each parent’s own needs and obligations; the child’s needs, income and any disability; and how the child was being, or was expected to be educated.Beyond these statutory factors, case law has developed such that the court is also required to take in to account other factors including that the child’s welfare is a “constant influence on the discretionary outcome^[2]”  and that “the child is entitled to be brought up in circumstances which bear some sort of relationship with the father’s current resources and the father’s present standard of living”^[3].

Payments usually end at 18, but can continue while the child is in education or training, or in special circumstances, such as disability.

Can I get a home for my child under Schedule 1?

Yes, but usually not to keep. Where the paying parent can afford it, the court can order them to provide a home for the child. The property is normally held on trust until the child turns 18 or finishes education, and then returns to the paying parent. In A v A (A Minor: Financial Provision) [1994] 1 FLR 657 the court held that only exceptional circumstances would justify outright capital provision for a child or the caring parent.

The standard of the home reflects the paying parent’s means, not just basic need. The court can only make one property settlement or transfer order against the same parent for the same child, so the terms need to be right the first time. People often claim lump sums for furnishing the home or buying a car alongside it.

Can a Schedule 1 award cover my own living costs?

Only as part of your child’s needs. The court can include an allowance for the household costs of the parent who looks after the child, because supporting the carer supports the child. What constitutes a benefit to the child is often far wider than many people initially expect. Provided the expenditure is genuinely linked to the child’s welfare and care, the court may take a broad approach when assessing the child’s reasonable needs.

In Collardeau-Fuchs v Fuchs [2022] EWFC 135, Mr Justice Mostyn introduced the term “Household Expenditure Child Support Award “. The court will not award funds to permit the carer to contribute to their own pension (CA v DR [2021] EWFC 21).

Whilst the court adopts a broad-brush approach and discourages unnecessary disputes over the minutiae of budgets, in practice the budget remains one of the most important documents in any Schedule 1 case and often forms a central part of the evidence considered by the court.

How much maintenance can a high earner be ordered to pay?

If the paying parent’s gross income is over £3,000 a week and the CMS has made a maximum assessment, the court can order top-up maintenance in excess of the CMS amount. The court can also order maintenance for school fees and the extra costs of a child’s disability, regardless of what the paying parent earns.

For earned incomes between £156,000 and £650,000 gross per year, with up to three children, Mr Justice Mostyn set out a starting-point formula in James v Seymour [2023] EWHC 844 (Fam) to top up the amount payable under the CMS. It is only a loose guide and Mostyn recognises that not every case is suitable for formulaic outcome. The court will consider a broad-brush assessment of what it costs to sustain the household referable to the care of the child.

In ultra-high-net-worth cases, child maintenance can extend far beyond the levels commonly associated with CMS assessments. Where the court has jurisdiction, awards are tailored to the child’s reasonable needs having regard to the paying parent’s resources and the standard of living enjoyed by the family. Housing funds -albeit on a reversionary basis – can extend into the millions of pounds and annual child maintenance awards into the hundreds of thousands of pounds and, in rare cases, beyond.

For example, in Re Z (No 4) (Schedule 1 award) [2023] EWFC 25 the court made an award which included £3.65M for a house until the child turned 18 or ceased tertiary education, £50,000 for redecoration, £87,450 to clear the mother’s debts and child maintenance payments of £148,250 per year as a household expenditure child support award plus £92,402 per year for a nanny and private nursery fees.

Can a Schedule 1 order be changed later?

Yes. The amount of child support may be varied. There is no express power to vary a property settlement, but this may be possible in certain limited circumstances.

Who pays the legal costs of a Schedule 1 claim?

A parent who cannot reasonably pay for legal advice and representation can ask the court to order the other parent to contribute or pay in full. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 does not apply to Schedule 1 applications and so it is possible to make an interim maintenance application that includes an element towards legal fees. And in other circumstances, applications for lump sums to cover legal fees.

What happens to a home we own together?

If you own property together, or you have contributed to a home in your former partner’s name, you can bring a claim under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA). The court decides who owns what share. It applies property and trust law and cannot adjust shares to meet needs, as a court can in divorce.

• Home in joint names: the starting point is that you own it equally, unless a declaration of trust says otherwise or there is evidence that you both intended different shares (Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17; Jones v Kernott [2011] UKSC 53).
• Home in your former partner’s sole name: you must show you were intended to have a share, usually through a common intention constructive trust or proprietary estoppel. Paying household bills may not be enough.
• Joint mortgage: each of you remains liable to the lender for the whole mortgage until it is repaid or one of you is released. Separating does not end that liability.
• Selling the home: the court can order a sale. When deciding, it must consider the welfare of any child who lives in the home.

If your child needs a home and your former partner can afford it, a Schedule 1 claim can run alongside a TOLATA claim.

Does an unmarried father have to pay if he does not have parental responsibility?

Yes. A parent’s duty to maintain their child does not depend on parental responsibility (Children Act 1989, section 3(4)). An unmarried father has parental responsibility if he is named on the birth certificate for a birth registered from 1 December 2003, if he later marries the mother, or if he gets it by agreement with the mother or by court order. Our guide to the rights and obligations of unmarried parents covers parental responsibility and arrangements for children in more detail.

What happens if my former partner dies?

Unmarried partners do not inherit from each other unless there is a will that makes provision If there is no will, your child inherits under the intestacy rules and shares with any surviving spouse or civil partner. A child of any age can also claim reasonable provision for their maintenance from a parent’s estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

If you were still living together as a couple for the whole of the two years immediately preceding the death, you can claim reasonable provision for your own maintenance. If you had already separated, you would usually have no claim for yourself unless your former partner was maintaining you immediately before the death. Claims must normally be made within six months of the grant of probate. It is advisable to check that wills, pension nominations and life insurance beneficiaries reflect your current wishes.

What are the new rules for unmarried couples in 2026?

There are no new rules in force yet. On 5 June 2026, the Ministry of Justice launched a consultation, “A fairer end to relationships”, which closed on 14 August 2026. It proposes new financial claims for couples who have lived together for at least three years, or who live together and have a child. The consultation sought views on a new scheme where:

• Each partner would start by keeping what they own. The court could depart from that only to meet defined needs, with no automatic 50:50 split.
• Maintenance between partners would be limited to exceptional, time-limited cases.
• Couples could opt out if both agree.
• Children’s needs would come before the separating adults.
• The consultation also looks at automatic inheritance rights for cohabitants when a partner dies without a will.

The government will respond before settling any final policy and says any legislation will be introduced “when parliamentary time allows”.

How do I make a Schedule 1 claim?

1. Take legal advice early. It is important to understand the process, the likely outcome and whether the costs of making an application will be proportionate.
2. Try to agree. Negotiation, mediation and arbitration may all resolve a claim. Before applying to court, you must attend a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) unless an exemption applies.
3. Apply to court. Use Form A1 if you are only asking for periodical payments, or Form A if you are also asking for a lump sum or property. The court fee is currently £270.
4. Exchange financial information. Both parents complete a financial statement (Form E1) with supporting documents.
5. Attend court hearings. A standard application usually has a first appointment, a financial dispute resolution hearing and, if you cannot agree, a final hearing. A claim for periodical payments only follows a faster procedure, where the court may decide it at the first hearing. An agreement can be made into a consent order at any stage.

What should I do now?

• Understand that you cannot rely on “common law” rights. They do not exist.
• Apply to the CMS or agree child maintenance as soon as you separate. There is no fee, and CMS maintenance runs only from the date the CMS tells the paying parent about the claim, so delays cost Even if you want to apply to the court for a top up order, you will still need to have a maximum CMS assessment.
• If you still live together, consider a cohabitation agreement or a declaration of trust over your home.
• Update your will, pension nominations and life insurance.

One of the most common mistakes unmarried parents make, is not made when they separate, but it is failing to understand during the relationship that cohabitation does not provide the same financial protections as marriage or civil partnership. By the time the relationship ends, the financially weaker party may discover that the remedies available are limited and focused primarily on the needs of the children rather than their own financial security. Had the parties understood their legal position earlier, they may have had different conversations about marriage, ownership of assets, financial arrangements and longer-term planning.