Sister's Ex Never Paid Child Support - Can She Sue Him?

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9 August 2018
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Please help?

My sister got divorced from her cheating ex-husband 16 years ago. She is a very private person & I stayed out of her "divorce details" all these years but she is now getting closer to retirement & I was recently shocked to find out that she has nothing to show for all her years as a mum & raising/paying for 2 kids (including putting one through Uni & one about to grad from high school).

All her spare money & time went into raising these kids. Upon property settlement in approx 2002, this gem of a man states that he doesn't have any assets & hides his income through his business to protect himself from having to paying Child Support. My sis stated that at the time of the divorce that either she (or the courts) couldn't prove what he made for a living or that it "wasn't enough to force him to pay". All these years my sister raised this kids with really zero fiscal help from her ex.

My question is how can his income be protected by running it through a business? The man now owns 3 houses & recently either bought or leased a Ferrari - all while never paying a penny in spousal or child support ! Isn't there a creative way to have the ATO &/or DHS investigate this man, look into his assets &/or his business ITR's & do something to force him to make back-payments in what he should owe my sister ?

What process need to happen to get the gears moving to help her get what she deserves. Can't he be sued ?

Any help would be appreciated - thanks !
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
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You're not gonna like my answer...

It is very hard to do anything with assets once they have been divorced for more than a year. So no joy for you there...

Child support is payable from the time she applied.

Look the sad reality is if one person is intent on avoiding paying for their kids, the system can only do so much and when that person runs their own business it is very hard to get anywhere.

If you wanted, the first step would be a solicitor at about $500 per hour.