VOLUNTARY PCS GUIDE

PCS contribution guide calculator

This calculator uses the current PCS policy framework. It is not the statutory Child Maintenance Service calculator and does not create a legal assessment or debt.

Current starting guide

Children	Monthly starting amount
1	£120
2	£240 total maximum
3 or more	£340 total maximum

Shared care

Overnight care counts as 1 care unit and substantial day-only care as 0.5. At 50% care or more, the PCS transfer is £0.

See the shared-care table

1. Children and starting amount Number of children covered Different voluntary monthly starting amount - optional Leave blank to use the PCS standard rate. A different amount is only a voluntary discussion figure and does not change the published PCS standard caps.

2. Benefits / very low income Use the PCS protected benefit/very-low-income rate instead of the standard monthly starting rate. Relevant monthly benefit income - optional If entered, PCS applies its policy safeguard so the suggested transfer does not normally exceed 20% of this figure, leaving at least 80% retained.

State benefits are not split by PCS. PCS does not reassign Child Benefit, Universal Credit child amounts, disability benefits or other state support between parents. See Benefits and PCS.

3. Shared care and resident children

Overnight stays per year Each overnight = 1 PCS care unit. Substantial day-only care days per year Each substantial day-only care day = 0.5 PCS care unit.

Other children normally living with the paying parent

4. Affordability and agreed adjustment Relevant monthly disposable income - optional (non-benefit cases) If entered in a non-benefit case, the PCS policy aim is to leave at least 70%, so the guide is capped at 30% of this amount. Agreed monthly adjustment - optional Use a positive or negative monthly figure to model a voluntary adjustment. The final affordability safeguard is applied after this adjustment. Show the main result as

Clear calculator

Assumptions used by this calculator

No silent rounding: all calculator arithmetic is performed with integers and exact fractions. Floating-point money calculations are not used.
Displayed equivalents: where an exact result cannot be written as a whole number of pennies, PCS shows the nearest-penny figure with an asterisk (*) for readability. This is a display value only. The exact underlying fraction continues through the calculation.
Why £5/week can display as £21.67/month: £5 every 7 days × 52 weeks = exactly £260.00 per year. Calendar months have different lengths and £260 does not divide evenly into 12 whole-penny payments, so PCS displays the monthly equivalent as £21.67*. If the parents choose monthly payments, the schedule is balanced as 4 payments of £21.66 and 8 payments of £21.67, totalling exactly £260.00 for 12 payments.
GBP payments can only be made to whole pennies. If an exact conversion produces a fraction of 1p, PCS does not pretend the displayed rounded figure is the exact mathematical value.
Where the exact annual total is a whole number of pennies, the calculator gives a penny-balanced payment schedule so the total is neither overpaid nor underpaid because of calendar conversion.
If the mathematical annual total itself contains a fraction of 1p, no UK bank-transfer schedule can reproduce it exactly. The calculator flags this rather than silently rounding.
Standard PCS starting rates are exactly £120/month for 1 child, £240/month total for 2 children, and £340/month total for 3 or more.
Protected benefit/very-low-income bands are exactly £5/week for 1 child, £8/week for 2, £10/week for 3, and £12/week for 4+.
Resident-child reductions are 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% for 1, 2, 3 and 4+ resident children.
Shared-care thresholds are compared using the exact number of care half-units, not a rounded care percentage: 15% reduction at 10% care, 25% at 20%, 50% at 30%, 75% at 40%, and 100% at 50% or more.
Benefits remain governed by the relevant benefit authority. PCS does not decide who is entitled to Child Benefit, Universal Credit or another state benefit.
Routine childcare is not automatically added to the basic PCS guide; parents can agree a separate shared childcare cost if appropriate.
PCS does not override CMS, a court order or another legally binding arrangement.

Read Benefits & Shared Care Parent Help & Guides