Important notice for One Parent Families in relation to Child Maintenance payments

There may be situations where a One Parent Family recipient is no longer receiving maintenance or they may be receiving a reduced amount for their child because the other parent has lost their job due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In these cases, the department advises that the One Parent Family recipient should contact their local Intreo Centre and provide it with a letter (from the recipient) stating that they are no longer receiving the maintenance payment from the other parent.

The department will then revise their One Parent Family payment on that basis for a period of 12 weeks. After that period their means may be re-assessed at that stage following a review.

As the family courts are not hearing maintenance cases during the pandemic, this situation is being carefully monitored on an ongoing basis, to ensure that these lone parents do not have to face any further difficulties or hardship at this time.

ENDS