New rules for child maintenance come into force today, Monday 30 June.  If the ‘receiving’ parent  wants the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to collect maintenance from the ‘paying’ parent (as opposed to just assessing what ought to be paid), the paying parent has to pay 120% of the assessed amount, and the receiving parent actually gets only 96% of the assessed amount.  It’s all designed to encourage parents to arrange payment direct rather than through the CMS.