Child Maintenance Payments Record

Who this is for

One shared account of maintenance due and paid. Each payment due gets a line with the amount, the date and amount actually received, how it was paid and a reference, and the sheet keeps a running balance so both parents can see whether payments are behind or ahead.

Separated parents with a family-based or a statutory arrangement, whether paying or receiving, and anyone who needs a clear payment history to show a maintenance service, an adviser or the other parent.

What this helps you track

• The arrangement: who pays, for which children, how much and how often
• Every payment due, with the date and amount actually received
• How each payment was made and its reference
• The difference on each payment and a running balance
• Totals for the period and any changes the two of you agreed

How to use it

1. Write both parents, the children the arrangement covers, the agreed amount and how often it is paid, the start date and any case or arrangement reference.
2. Add a line for each payment as it falls due, with the due date and the amount due under your arrangement.
3. When money arrives, record the date, the amount received, how it was paid and the bank or service reference.
4. The difference and running balance are worked out in the browser and the workbook; a minus balance means payments are behind and a plus balance means ahead. On paper, keep the balance by hand.
5. Write any change to the arrangement, and when and how it was agreed, in the box at the end.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How much child maintenance should be paid?

The sheet does not say. Amounts are agreed between parents or worked out by the child maintenance service where you live, and the rules differ by country. Write the amount you have agreed or been told, and check the rules where you are.

What does the running balance show?

It adds every amount received and takes away every amount due, line by line. A minus figure is what is owed so far; a plus figure means more has been paid than was due. It counts only the lines you have entered.

Can both parents use the same record?

Yes, and that is the idea: one set of figures you can both check. Each parent can keep a copy, or one keeps the record and shares a photo or the downloaded file after each payment.

Should payments in kind, such as school shoes, go in?

Note them on a line, but whether they count towards maintenance depends on your arrangement and the rules where you are. Keep them in the notes column rather than the received column unless you have both agreed they count.