SA Binding Child Support Agreement – non-periodic payments.

[ThomasToo]

Where an agreement cannot be made through BCSA (where pre-agreement in writing is required) because parties cannot agree – which ‘Court’ can this be taken for securing an outcome? Is it Family Court or come other court. Is the test “best interest of the children’.. Dispute is over high school selection, and payment of fees. This is not covered in the children's orders. Thank you

 

[Atticus]

Dispute is over high school selection, and payment of fees. This is not covered in the children's orders.

Two different issues.

1) Dispute over school selection ... If the orders are silent, then this falls under joint parental responsibility (assuming both parents have JPR) ... You could potentially take it to a court having family law jurisdiction. Need to undertake dispute resolution first & be issued a s60I certificate....

Is the child already attending a school contrary to the wishes of one parent?

2) School fees .... If there is a CS assessment in place then both parents are already contributing towards school fees on the basis of that assessment ... If the fees are high, a parent can apply for a reassessment under 2.6.9 Reason 3 - high costs of caring for, educating or training the child in the manner expected by the parents | Child Support Guide

Courts don't get involved in child support & fees unless circumstances are such that a normal formula assessment can't be done by CSA.

 

[ThomasToo]

Two different issues.

1) Dispute over school selection ... If the orders are silent, then this falls under joint parental responsibility (assuming both parents have JPR) ... You could potentially take it to a court having family law jurisdiction. Need to undertake dispute resolution first & be issued a s60I certificate....

Is the child already attending a school contrary to the wishes of one parent?

2) School fees .... If there is a CS assessment in place then both parents are already contributing towards school fees on the basis of that assessment ... If the fees are high, a parent can apply for a reassessment under 2.6.9 Reason 3 - high costs of caring for, educating or training the child in the manner expected by the parents | Child Support Guide

Courts don't get involved in child support & fees unless circumstances are such that a normal formula assessment can't be done by CSA.

Thank you Atticus. Both parents have JPR, and children currently at school of both parents choice.
While there is the Gov CS asessement in place, and up to date, the Binding child support agreement has school fees and other things included on top (mostly require written pre-agreement) - these costs are included as non-periodic which means not collected by Child Support agency. The binding agreement has been registered with the CS agency.

 

[Atticus]

the Binding child support agreement has school fees and other things included on top

As you already have a BCSA in place & registered with the CSA, that changes things. Very difficult (almost impossible) to have a BCSA set aside or varied without consent of both parties, assuming the agreement satisfies the requirements of a binding agreement that is.

If the school fees are now causing undue hardship due to a change in your circumstances, all I can suggest is you attempt some adjustment to your current CS assessment via the reason 3 I mentioned above.

 

[ThomasToo]

As you already have a BCSA in place & registered with the CSA, that changes things. Very difficult (almost impossible) to have a BCSA set aside or varied without consent of both parties, assuming the agreement satisfies the requirements of a binding agreement that is.

If the school fees are now causing undue hardship due to a change in your circumstances, all I can suggest is you attempt some adjustment to your current CS assessment via the reason 3 I mentioned above.

It is a proper Binding agreement.
No hardship, we just can't agree on the school and fee split (binding agreement requires for pre-agreement in writing), and as such I am being threatened with court as I do not agree with the OP proposal. Hence I am asking for what court? It seems that it would be Family, but would need mediation first. But what court would cover the Binding child support agreement.

 

[Atticus]

(binding agreement requires for pre-agreement in writing)

Sounds odd for a binding agreement to include a clause like that.

Anyway, if you can't agree, let the other party serve you with an application to go to court, then take your BA along with the application to a lawyer for advice on how best to proceed... until you get served an application it's all just words.

Yes it would be heard under family law jurisdiction. I don't believe there are pre action requirements (mediation) regarding this type of application. That said, the court would almost certainly order it if hasn't been attempted.