QLD Change of Child Support Assessment?

[sammy01]

CSA have asked for info, if it is not provided they can make a decision based on the info they have. I reckon they're likely to make an adverse decision against the parent that failed to follow their instructions about providing information....

 

[gruidae]

Putting the legalities aside for a moment- there's no way your child is not going to find out about this if you pursue it. His employer will notify him of the request, as will his bank. Unless he has entirely disengaged from education and training and is working full time, it is extremely unlikely he will be earning over the 350/wk threshold which would reduce your payments.
How many more months until he turns 18? Let's say super optimistically he earns $400/wk - which would be very generous for an under 18 in casual employment, usually it's more in the 250/wk ballpark and goes up to just over 300 if there's public holidays in a pay period.Your payments would only reduce by around $20-30/month as a result, if that. Even if it's a full 11 months until he turns 18, you'll have saved aournd $300.Chances are you'll save nothing, nada zilch, especially if he's at school, TAFE or uni and not working a 40 hour week...

What will you have acheived for this whopping amount of money? Advertising to your child that you're not afraid to interfere in their employment or private finances out of spite, that you resent him and see him as a burden. That may not be accurate but teen brains take these things personally - he's not going to see it as you resenting your ex, he's going to see it as you going to war with him personally and interfering with his growing independence.. Anything CSA can do will likely make things socially awkward for him at an age and stage where he's acutely sensitive to embarassment. You're shoving him into the middle of your resentment of your ex and making him front and centre of whatever battles are ongoing between you.

It sounds like you currently have contact with your son. In a few short months there will be nothing you can do to force him into an ongoing relationship through the Family Court. He will get to choose if he remains in contact with you from then on. Why would you pursue this madness which completely risks that ongoing relationship by advertising you resent him, see him as a financial burden and are willing to advertise that you see him that way via his employer or bank.? Its one hell of a spanner to throw in the works for a few hundred bucks at a time when his legal obligation to have a relationship with you is coming to an end.

You've been able to manage the payments so far and they will stop in a few short months. Why on earth would you gamble with your relationship with your child just to save what is likely to be a double digit amount each month? I know sometimes CSA can seem unfair and to pursue these things is a matter of principle.It will be over soon enough. The question is, is the principle of the matter worth risking alienating your son?

 

[sammy01]

Actually, I reckon the original poster is the payee and is reluctant to have the child's income communicated because it could reduce the amount of child support he/she receives...

So a 2nd yr apprentice aged 17 could earn $500 a week. If I was a non-custodial parent AND IF I didn't have any contact with the kid, then continuing to pay child support when the kid is making $500 would suck.

So I have a mate, he doesnt' see his kid. So he pays maximum child support. The kid is 17, doesn't go to school and has a job. It suxs that he is paying the amount he is.... But he has realised that he could appeal, as is the case here, but he has realised that it is all too hard. It is more likely the kid will turn 18 before the CSA make a decision.

 

[Atticus]

Actually, I reckon the original poster is the payee.

Poster confirmed s few posts back that they are the payer and it's their application for COA

 

[gruidae]

So a 2nd yr apprentice aged 17 could earn $500 a week. If I was a non-custodial parent AND IF I didn't have any contact with the kid, then continuing to pay child support when the kid is making $500 would suck.

So I have a mate, he doesnt' see his kid. So he pays maximum child support. The kid is 17, doesn't go to school and has a job. It suxs that he is paying the amount he is.... But he has realised that he could appeal, as is the case here, but he has realised that it is all too hard. It is more likely the kid will turn 18 before the CSA make a decision.

I understand completely that this would suck. I also have a mate who has an older teen 309/365. - Kid voted with his feet and fronted up to a child inclusive conference to change residency because he couldn't cope with some very "interesting" behaviours- Mate still pays a small amount of child support because they earn more, despite the massive care percentage. It will end later this year anyway. They'd never let on to their kid that they resented it in any fashion because this kid has been put through the absolute wringer emotionally by the other parent. The kid is aware however, that mate doesn't always have money for extras to do with uni, such as clubs he's joined etc, so he now has got a part time job so he can have the lifestyle he'd like. Plus, it's appropriate for them to be stretching their wings and taking more responsibility for their own lives at that age. Once the other parent gets wind of that no doubt, they could try to tell CSA there's more income in the household and try to take some of the kid's pay as well because that's just the kind of person they are, sadly.

I know the payer/payee situation is reversed from OP scenario and in my mate's case it would be unlikely the kid's income would be taken into account but unfortunately some parents don't deal in reality..The kid's relationship with other parent is fragile because of the behaviours he's been subjected to and my mate fears the kid's just "serving out a sentence" until 18, due to those behaviours continuing. Mate is having to work overtime on selling the kid on keeping the agreement they made a year ago as it is. It would be like pouring napalm onto a bridge the kid's already chafing to set fire to.Wouldn't be one thing mate could do to save it at the point the kid's manager tells him there's been an FOI from CSA on his payslips or he got a letter from the bank saying the other parent wants to get all up in their bank statement.So I guess my response was somewhat coloured by that

.I'm not saying it's fair, I'm saying it's a few more months and is it worth getting all up in your kid's workplace and personal banking considering the damage it could do to what could already be a fragile situation? How would you feel if you were the 17yo? Is this a hill you want to die on?

 

[SamanthaJay]

When my partner's son was 17 two years ago, and working full time on an apprentice wage, my partner still had to pay CS. CSA were of the opinion that the mother still had a substantial obligation to support the child even though he was working. He as earning around $500. The mother's argument was that she still had to drive the 17 yo around including to work, pay bills/rent etc.

 

[sammy01]

samanthajay - your example, in my opinion, is just another example of CSA getting it wrong. Your partner should have at least seen a reduction in the amount he was assessed to pay as a result of the son earning that sort of $