NSW Ex not paying child support

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Tornni

Active Member
3 November 2018
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I moved out and separated from my husband on the 15th September this year. I have moved into a rental which is $390/week with my two children and he has stayed in the marital home which is now up for sale. I have 100% care of the children and CSA assessed for him to pay $550/fortnight. Since we moved out he has only paid $150 as he said that as he is paying the mortgage and all the bills of the marital home, he doesn't feel he needs to pay child support. He has made one payment of $150 since we moved out. I am actually paying more in rent than he pays on the mortgage. Could somebody please give me some advice on whether I do need to pay my rent and half the mortgage as well? I am still paying the home and contents insurance of the home and paying the joint personal loan.
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
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Look there are no hard and fast rules. CSA can collect directly from his wage (if he is self employed this can prove difficult). So child support and mortgage payments are two separate things. He has to pay child support, but if your name is on the title / mortgage then it seems reasonable that you pay half the mortgage... Now it gets messy. He is living there right? so should he pay rent to you? but you moved out... My head hurts, so like I said, no hard and fast rules.

My question why 100% care? Does dad want to see the kids?

The best answer? the sooner you get it all sorted the better. The best way to do that is to get an agreement without solicitors. However, as is the case with marriage break ups... The tension is sometimes too much to acheive this without a third party.

The absolute best answer? if there is equity in the home consider talking to them. They don't like re-possessing houses and if it is on the market and there is equity they might agree to freeze payments for a while
 

Tornni

Active Member
3 November 2018
6
0
31
Hi Sammy, thanks for the quick reply. Yes it is a joint mortgage and yes that’s what I thought to, that he has to pay me rent for living there. Mortgage payment is $375 a week so it confuses me that’s he wants me to pay for one week of the fortnight leaving him living there for $375 for the fortnight and I pay rent and mortgage together of $1,155 per fortnight when I don’t really earn that much more a fortnight anyway. He is planning on seeing our daughter every second weekend but the relationship with our son has completely broken down.
 

Rod

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
27 May 2014
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www.hutchinsonlegal.com.au
Child support is not negotiable. Kids need a roof over their heads and food in their stomach.

Approach your lender under hardship provisions and have the mortgage reduced/stopped as the property is on the market.

Child support is then paid as required by CSA and you put pressure on for him to pay you 1/2 rent while he lives in the martial home.
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
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There are no rules. OR there are too many rules, depending on how you look at it. I know.... Not great help. So child support is assessed based on income and care %. IT has nothing to do with the mortgage / rates / water / house insurance / personal loans / car rego etc etc. That is all laid out in a realm of law called family law. It is complex but the simple version for you is this. His income and your income are calculated and run through an equation that factors in the age of the kids, how many kids and how the care %. You have 100% care right now. So child support has assessed his child support liability is $550 a fortnight. Done and dusted.


But the child support agency are not interested in who paid the rates / mortgage or anything else.

But you're also messed up with contract law and property law and property law is messy because it is intertwined with family law. The fact is your name is on the title and the mortgage. So according to contract law you have a responsibility to the bank. You have a contract with them. Now what about property law? well what happens with asset division because family law and property law get mixed together here if you know what I mean? So IF the ex pays everything from now until the house sells then he has a good argument to see some additional funds come back his way when the house sells.

So here is the real issue... Any property settlement between you and the ex that is legally binding in family law requires you both to get legal advice. Some folk do manage to just sell everything, come to an agreement and save spending a fortune on solicitors.

My advice - get child support to collect. Save all the $$$ that could / should be paid and keep it in a bank account he cant access. If thing go nice, then great, if not, you're gonna need that money for this horrible game called family law. Obviously, stuff is stressful atm. It is only gonna get worse if court is required. Try and avoid that.
 

Thefactsonly

Well-Known Member
30 January 2017
53
2
199
This is slightly complicated due to so many different aspects of law going on but at end of it CSA is to support the kids and ensure they are looked after - housing, food, clothing, education etc. I would suggest making an appointment with your local community legal centre and get some good free advice - you can access their services quite a few times and they are very helpful - a few $$ donation is also nice to support them!