WA Family Law - Is It Okay to Decrease Child Support Amount?

[Gudguhrl]

I told my husband to lower the amount that he is giving every fortnight to his ex, but the amount I told him to give every fortnight is not lower than the amount in the Child Support Agency assessment, it's still high and we pay for private health and any extra needs that my stepchild has that the biological mum asks for and if we can afford it, we will provide. The agreement between my husband and his ex are all verbal.

This year we got married and had a baby, and now he has to support me and our baby and we bought a house. There's a big difference in his life now, that's why I asked my husband to lower the amount that he is giving and I know we can't afford it. Now the ex said she will take us to the family court and who am I to change things etc. etc.? All negative.

My question is, did I do wrong by asking my husband to lower the amount of his child support? If She's going to take us to the family court, do my husband and I have a chance of winning or so? My step-daughter is 9 years old now. And correct me if I'm wrong, I know when a child reaches a certain age, Centrelink will ask the mother to start looking for a job to start working. She's not working and so she depends on Centrelink, money from us and from whoever bloke she's with.

I know child support covers the basic needs of a child and the mother will benefit from that too.. They lived in a expensive rental house and got a new car. So how can they afford things and yet demand for more money by not working?

Please, can someone let me know or give me suggestions on Family Law or information?

And can we request for my husband's daughter to have 50/50 custody so we can have more quality family time together?

 

[sammy01]

She will not be able to take you to court for more child support. Your hubby should contact the child support agency, inform them that he has a new child and tell them his annual income and then they can work it out...

Then, if the ex complains, tell her to contact the child support agency and if they think that he should pay more, then they can sort it out. In short, make it so she has to talk to them about the money rather than bothering you. Then just say the same thing over and over, and that is to tell her to take it up the child support agency.

As far as more time with daughter... Well, that depends. How much time do you have now? The first step is to book mediation. Call relationships Australia and talk to them.

 

[Gudguhrl]

We have her every Wednesday's and on every other weekend - Friday, Saturday, then on Sunday night, we drop her back to her mum's. On school holidays, she stays longer.

 

[sammy01]

When you say she stays longer in school holidays? Do you mean half holidays?

Look, if you have more than 35% care over a year then you should be getting family tax benefit for the child. Also - if the child has expressed an interest in 50/50 care or more time with you, then that might be achievable. But like I said, book mediation first.

 

[AllForHer]

I, personally, don't think any parent should be paying more child support than what is assessed by the Child Support Agency, but that's because I think it encourages bad habits - prolonged financial dependency, demands for more money, ammunition for conflict and threats to withhold the child - just like what you're experiencing now.

Just pay what the Child Support Agency assesses and let the agency deal with any residual disputes that may arise. The worst she can do is object to the decision of the CSA, then to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for the first review. After that, it starts costing money. Alternatively, she can apply for a departure from the child support assessment through the court, but she will need a compelling reason to do so, like medical costs incurred for a special medical condition, etc, and again, it's going to cost money.

Changing care arrangements is a whole other ball game, but considering that it sounds like it's been fairly amicable to this point, your husband would probably stand a chance of getting 50/50, provided it's reasonable practicable (e.g. he can drop the child off at school and pick her up, etc.). The best chance of getting it, however, is by agreement. If it ends up in court, the chances of attaining 50/50 reduce significantly because needing a trial to make parenting decisions means the parents can't communicate well enough for equal care arrangements to work.

 

[sammy01]

As far as paying additional, look, it really depends. Originally, I was prepared to pay a bit extra. My thinking was a little bit of a sweetener to keep things amicable...But when you're paying more than you're assessed to pay and getting nothing but grief then it isn't really money well spent....