What counts as shared care?
For child maintenance purposes, shared care means the paying parent has the child staying with them overnight. Daytime visits do not count, no matter how long they are. The CMS counts the number of nights per year the child spends with the paying parent.
The shared care discount table
| Nights/year with paying parent | Approx. nights/week | Reduction |
|---|---|---|
| 0–51 | Less than 1 | No reduction |
| 52–103 | Roughly 1 | 1/7 reduction |
| 104–155 | Roughly 2 | 2/7 reduction |
| 156–174 | Roughly 3 | 3/7 reduction, then subtract £7/week |
| 175+ | Half the time | 50% reduction, then subtract £7/week |
Why do I still pay child support with 50/50 custody?
Even with equal shared care (175+ nights), if one parent earns significantly more than the other, the CMS may still calculate a payment from the higher earner to the lower earner. The maximum reduction at 50/50 is half the maintenance amount minus £7/week - which can bring payments very low but rarely to absolute zero.
This is because child maintenance is partly about equalising the financial resources available to the child in each household, not just about time.
A worked example
Paying parent earns £30,000 gross per year (£576/week), 1 child. No shared care: 12% × £576 = £69.12/week. With 104 nights/year (2/7 reduction): £69.12 × 5/7 = £49.37/week.