Court Maintenance Orders – do the CSA take them into account?
Any spousal maintenance order from AP to PWC should be treated as part of the PWC’s income by the CSA. But if they are on benefits they will be deemed to have no income. A court may reduce such an order because the ‘PWC as carer’ part of the assessment is for the PWC. If the AP is paying maintenance through the courts for the benefit of a child other than the one(s) the CSA is assessing maintenance for then that maintenance should be deducted pound for pound from the AP’s net income at the protected income stage.
