CMS special expenses — asking for contact costs, debts and disability costs to count

REVIEWED BY: Sean McNamara on 2026-08-30

If you are the paying parent in a Child Maintenance Service calculation, you can ask the CMS to reduce the calculation by taking "special expenses" into account — significant, specific costs connected to your child or the former relationship. This guide sets out what qualifies, what doesn't, and the caps that apply. It is general information, not legal advice.

What counts as a special expense

The CMS can consider:

Costs of keeping in contact with the child — for example, significant travel costs for contact, or overnight accommodation that enables contact to happen. There is a cap of £182 a week on contact-related expenses
Prioritised debts from the former relationship — such as repayments on a mortgage or loan secured against the former family home, or joint debts kept up to protect the family. Capped at a £182 a week equivalent
Costs of supporting a child with a disability or long-term illness — costs attributable to the child's disability in your household
Student loan repayments you are making

What does NOT count

Ordinary living costs — rent, food, utility bills for your current household
Costs of a new family or new children — deliberately excluded from the calculation by law
General debts unrelated to the child or the former family home — credit cards, car finance, personal loans
Discretionary extras the CMS deems non-essential — each item must be justified as a necessary cost

How it works in the calculation

1. You apply for a variation on the ground of special expenses (see our variation guide for the process) 2. You provide evidence — receipts, travel logs, mortgage statements, loan agreements, disability-related costs 3. If accepted, the CMS reduces your gross weekly income figure by the allowed amount (up to any cap) before applying the standard percentage rates 4. The reduction flows through the whole calculation — so a small accepted expense can slightly reduce payments, while a large one (up to the caps) can reduce them more

Practical tips

Document everything — a travel diary with dates, distances and costs is far more persuasive than an estimate
Be realistic — special expenses must be significant; small or speculative claims slow the case down
Contact-related expenses are about enabling contact, not about making contact comfortable — basic travel and modest overnight costs, not luxury accommodation
If the CMS refuses your variation, you can ask for mandatory reconsideration and appeal to the First-tier Tribunal
Special expenses interact with other variation grounds — if you're also claiming the paying parent has unearned income, apply for both in one variation request

Limits to remember

You cannot ask for special expenses if your gross income is less than £7 a week or you are on benefits (flat rate)
The contact expense and prioritised debt categories each have their own caps — currently £182 per week per category (check the current gov.uk factsheet)
Special expenses only reduce the calculation; they don't create a refund of past payments

Official links

YourFamilyCase.co.uk is an independent information directory — we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the DWP, the Child Maintenance Service, or gov.uk. This page is general information and is not legal advice.

Content verified against the official HMCTS court directory, gov.uk forms and fees pages, and the professional body registers (SRA, FMC, Bar Council). Last reviewed September 2026.