Child Support

Child support is usually resolved separately from your matrimonial property and living arrangements for the children, although obviously the time your children spend with each parent will influence the child support outcome. The Child Support Agency (CSA) is a federal government organisation with responsibility for assessing and enforcing child support payment arrangements.

The child support formula recognises that by caring for your child you are directly meeting some or all of the costs through care.   In particular, the formula puts a financial value on the care you provide to your child, which in turn influences the amount of child support payable.   It's not just all about income levels.

Unless you have decided to agree upon your child support arrangements privately, the CSA will assess your, and your former spouse's, taxable income and will subtract an amount for "self support". That amount is currently $20,594 per annum, but is indexed upwards every year. The remaining income is divided by the other party's income to arrive at the proportion of parenting costs which each parent needs to meet. It's important to bear in mind that any Family Assistance money you receive from the government will affect this assessment.

Next, the CSA applies special tables which set out the cost of raising children. Second families and step-children are also factored into the assessment. The CSA then looks at the level of care you provide: the usual categories are "regular care", (which is care of your child between 14 and 34 per cent of the time. This equals between 52 and 127 nights per year, or two to four nights of care per fortnight) and "shared care" (which is care of your child between 35 and 65 per cent of the time. This equals between 128 and 237 nights per year, or five to nine nights of care per fortnight).

If you are on a low income, and you care for your children 14 per cent or more of the time (52 nights or more a year), you might not have to pay child support. Your level of care will be recognised as your contribution towards the cost of your child. The CSA's website sets out a table to describe the process as follows:

1. Work out your child support income
(If you have dependent children or
more than two child support
assessments, this will be taken into
account at this step)
2. Work out the combined child support income
3. Work out your income percentage
4. Work out your care percentage
5. Work out your cost percentage
6. Work out your child support percentage
7. Work out the cost of your child
(You will get either a positive or
negative child support percentage.
If the percentage is positive, you
need to pay child support)
8. Work out the child support amount

Lastly, you should note that there are particular laws governing appeals against a child support assessment, locating and enforcing against a non-paying parent, and other aspects of the scheme. The family law team at Maddens can assist you with these and other complex problems.

 

How can we help you?

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