QLD What rights do fathers have regarding child support when ex on maternity leave?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

LisaB

Member
7 May 2019
1
0
1
QLD
Hello, I’m trying to help a friend whom is in a great deal of stress and looking for advice. He has 2 children with his ex (they separated 2 years ago). They have a parenting plan in place which is a 40% / 60% care arrangement (he being 40%). They have an agreement on the amount of child support he pays (included in their Parenting Plan), which is above what the CSA estimated amount should be but not a great deal and he pays school fees, all extra curricula activities and clothes etc. His ex is trying to force him into a 50/50 care arrangement (due to her having a new baby with her new partner and wanting more time with them) which he cannot commit to for work reasons and so she has now resorted to blackmail stating she won’t agree to a divorce until he agrees to her demands.

Furthermore, she has asked CSA to take over payments even tho they still have the Parenting Plan in place. Given she is currently on maternity leave her income is showing to be very little and therefore the estimate from the CSA is a crazy amount which he cannot afford. She lives with her very wealthy partner in her million dollar home and is not short of money/support, she’s merely doing this to force him to agree to her demands which unfortunately is not an option. Whilst he feels going through CSA is a good idea, my questions are as follows:

Is he legally obligated to make up the deficit of her salary while she is on maternity leave being fully supported by a very wealthy partner?

Also, she’s looking to go back to work part time which will raise his child support amount indefinitely, when (if ever) is the new partner/babies fathers income taken into consideration?

Does the CSA look at entire “home income” as opposed to “single parent” income?

If anyone has any experience with a similar situation we’d be very grateful for any advice.

FYI, She earns $50k “full time equivalent” and he earns $70k and the children are 10 an 15.

Appreciate any feedback and thanks in advance.

Lisa
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
5,152
720
2,894
file for divorce independently, you don't need her agreement. that was the easy fix...
Parenting plans are toilet paper. so she can opt out when ever she wants.

Sadly, the new partners income doesn't really come into this at all. So CSA don't care that she has a sugar daddy.
My thoughts - He might want to think long and hard about picking up the extra day a fortnight or there abouts. Even if it means tweaking work arrangements / earning less. He will pick up some extra family tax benefits and should pay less child support if he is 50/50

Can you put the math up here - CSA vs the agreement... So if she chooses to go to csa then he should immediately cease all other payments, just pay child support... BUT she is likely to claim that there is an agreement about education and CSA is likely to accept that and expect him to keep paying school fees.
 

Atticus

Well-Known Member
6 February 2019
2,011
294
2,394
They have an agreement on the amount of child support he pays (included in their Parenting Plan), which is above what the CSA estimated amount should be but not a great deal and he pays school fees,

In addition to above questions from sammy01, do you know if that agreement was ever registered with CSA