WA Child Support Assessment Changed?

[sammy01]

OK so not so much about a kid walking over the parents...

My thought was that if you have the 18yr old living with you the child support assessment for the child stops. So 18yr old is no longer part of the equation, even though he is living with you and even if he is paying board, it is unlikely to cover the actual expenses of the kid... But then neither does child support....

So scenario 1

17yr old lives with you. 15 yr old lives with other parent. Both parents earn about the same. NO Child support either way. But 18 year old isn't assessed. So then the scenario is one parent has 100% care of 15yr old and hence gets the full child support, while the other parent is still dealing with 18yr old but with no financial support from the other parent.

 

[MartyK]

BUT 18 year old isn't assessed. So then the scenario is one parent has 100% care of 15yr old and hence gets the full child support.. while the other parent is still dealing with 18yr old but with no financial support from the other parent.

After child support ceases a parent could apply to the Court for adult child maintenance. Although, whether this is granted or not is purely decided on a case by case basis.

I guess, that if there are no mitigating circumstances deeming otherwise, then like over 18's in intact families, there would be some expectation that the young adult would have some form of capacity for self support, either through part-time or full-time employment. Whether a parent chooses for the over 18 to contribute financially to household expenses, would be their decision.

 

[sammy01]

Marty yep there would be an expectation for the 18 yr old to work and pay board.... Is it worth a court application for adult child maintenance? Not for the average punter.

But the point still remains. 18 yr old living with me gets zero child support / family tax benefit. Now as a kid, I paid board to mum once I had a decent job. But I don't think it came near covering my expenses... Thanks mum...

But what would make it worse is that while 18 year old is eating you out of house and home (like mum used to say) it would be possible to have to pay the other parent for the other kid.... Look it is a bit unfair, but it is also just one of those things. no-one's fault... But another example where the system tries to be fair but falls flat on its face for the effort.

 

[Hoang Trang]

just a update. I made my appeal with CS took ages for them to even make a move. Instead was harassed constantly to pay $13K debt. Just a few weeks ago they even garnished my bank account. Just this week they rang and changed the assessed income back to my actual taxable income. So turns out my ex will need to back pay me and my debt is cleared. Didn't even need to take it to the AAT. Turns out my ex is really a nutter.