What if care of the child is shared?
Unless someone looks after a child for at least 104 nights then any time they do look after the child is ignored and no allowance is made. The agency is empowered to consider time spent rather than actual nights but they are reluctant to do so. The period for which the nights are counted is “the 12 month period ending in the Relevant Week”. The period can (at the CSA’s discretion) be a shorter period, but it still has to end in the Relevant Week. So, if you are sent a MEF, dated say 17 December 1998, the period will be 19 December 1997 to 18 December 1998. This is bizarre, because to get a change in the care arrangement recognised, not only does the care have to follow the new pattern for 12 months, but then a fresh MEF must be sent to set up a fresh relevant week, to legitimise that 12 month period’s care. The agency is not empowered to consider future care patterns (they have been known to, though). In a case where both parents has the child for more than 104 nights in the 12 month p
