Child Support - What can I do ??

[HI PSI]

I have been seperated from my ex partner for over four years. We have a gorgeous 6 year old daughter resulting from the relationship and I am looking for ways to best manage or ensure that my chils support payments are going to the child. I am absolutely disgusted by the abuse of the process where the funds intended for the child care and necessities is blatently misused and squandered on alcohol, pokies, car payments etc.

As this is my first year back on good money, I am expecting to be paying over $15,000 dollars in child support payment next year. I recently spoke to my accountant and he indicated that i amy be able to set up a trust account for the Child Support payment to be deposited into. I assume by the conversation that my ex would have to supply receipts for the money to be withdrawn for reimbursement and the remaining funds remain in the account and accure interest.

I sent a request (Reminder) email to my accountant today for more information and clarification on its deisgn, costs, and legal requirements for this to be implemented.

Does anyone else have a similar system in place or other legal means/methods of ensuring that the children get what they are entitled and deserve?

I am sure that there are many in similar circumstances that could greatly benefit by your advice. Please help us to help our kids...

Regards
Brad

[gtfpv]

never been in this situation and cant really give advice , but i'll make a suggestion in the form of a question anyway , is there any chance you can apply for equal custody? that way i'm not sure if any parent has to pay the other . if your ex has an alcohol or addiction problem can you see a lawyer and ask them about it ?

[noosacuda]

Child Support Agency,eh? Goodluck! They're a bunch of (many words not allowed to use here) Threatened me with legal action over arrears of $12.99. My ex is an alcoholic druggo,the trust account is a great idea,but i don't think it exists. I just hope that my son gets what he needs from the money i pay.

[Bucknaked]

I think there's a couple of threads about on the same subject. You may find the answers your looking for in those threads.

[neptune blue]

i have a friend that insisted on joint custody so he din have to pay so much

he also has a very good lawyer that specializes in family law and he says thats the key. a good family law specialist is worth every cent

[vanman_75]

Joint custody only works if its equal time and there is still the primary carer ( most likely mother , not always .) If your on good money now then they will see that and you get hit the back pay ( learnt hard way ) csa site is very clear and a 2 second chat with them will fill you in.
18 % of gross , hurts eh .

[cs123]

You don't get too much of a say in how the money is spent unfortunately.

What's your relationship like with your Ex? You might be able to come to some agreement where you pay for specific things like schooling, activities etc, give your ex some money for housekeeping and then put the balance into a trust for the child.

[BHDOGS]

Unfortunately u have the wrong genitals to get any fair deal for csa I rang up to volunteer to pay child support and they refused to take any money from me for the child as she hadnt asked for any from me as soon as she did a year later however they were hounding me immediately for back pay and to set up a direct deposit.

[GT0132]

I pay $25,000 a year for my two teenage sons . While I have paid it on time every month since we split in 2006, my ex recently decided to have CSA co-ordinate the payments to her rather than me pay her directly. It seems that after I moved address in mid 2010 I forgot to tell CSA , the rate subsequently went up, which I was unaware of and I consequently clocked up $500 in arrears. CSA then call me out of the blue just before Christmas 2011 saying they want payment of the $500 backpay within 7 days or else they'll garnishee my wages. When I protested about it (mainly because of Christmas coming up and the associated expenses with that) I offered to pay it off over 3 months. They declined my offer and said that on my salary I should be able to manage that quite comfortably in one month and weren't sympathetic at all. How the hell can they comment on my financial position and make a judgement call like that ??

To the OP....You're right mate . The amount non custodial parents have to pay for their kids upkeep is so far in excess of what it costs to bring up children that it's beyond a joke. My ex works 15 hrs/week for 4 days (has Friday off) and knows very well that if she gets a full time job paying say $60k, my support payments will drop by a third, so why would she work?

I'd be happy with an arrangement, say if I were to pay $25,000 into a kitty and she matches that dollar for dollar - so we have $50k in the kitty. My kids don't go to private schools and she got the house in the settlement so $50k is a lot of child support . Expenses are then supported by a receipt and at the end of each year what's left over goes to the kids bank accounts in equal shares . I'd be happy with that - but I bet she wouldn't be . How could she support her extravagent lifestyle?

I don't think the trust account arrangement will be acceptable to CSA sorry to say mate.

[stalker]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

Unfortunately u have the wrong genitals to get any fair deal for csa I rang up to volunteer to pay child support and they refused to take any money from me for the child as she hadnt asked for any from me as soon as she did a year later however they were hounding me immediately for back pay and to set up a direct deposit.

no they dont help anyone, my missus is getting screwed over big time, with how her ex's job pays he has novated lease for 2 cars, 1 bike etc etc. his pay is around 90k per year, yet he pays as if he earned 37k.. its quite awesome and the CSA have been compleatly usless trying to get anything to happen. execpt to lower the payments as my missus had a pay increase of 2k per year..

[BAXR8_Ute]

Originally Posted by stalker

no they dont help anyone, my missus is getting screwed over big time, with how her ex's job pays he has novated lease for 2 cars, 1 bike etc etc. his pay is around 90k per year, yet he pays as if he earned 37k.. its quite awesome and the CSA have been compleatly usless trying to get anything to happen. execpt to lower the payments as my missus had a pay increase of 2k per year..

That's interesting. I've got a mate at work who salary sacrifices his 2011 SS commodore and he has to pay child support on his gross income before the lease payments come out... It wouldn't surprise me if CSA picks and chooses who they apply rules too..

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by BAXR8_Ute

That's interesting. I've got a mate at work who salary sacrifices his 2011 SS commodore and he has to pay child support on his gross income before the lease payments come out... It wouldn't surprise me if CSA picks and chooses who they apply rules too..

Thats right, you can't mininise your income for CSA purposes by salary sacrificing a car, or even super for that matter. It is classed as a reportable benefit. Nor can you deduct negative gearing losses.

[MYVYSS]

Originally Posted by GT0132

Thats right, you can't mininise your income for CSA purposes by salary sacrificing a car, or even super for that matter. It is classed as a reportable benefit. Nor can you deduct negative gearing losses.

FALSE...its only where the benefit is FBT'able.... So if you have a Ute or work for a non profit organisation there are MANY MANY ways to NOT report your true Salary...

I knew of a CEO of a NFP Org that was on paper earning over 500k....according to his Payment Summary was earning 65k.....With NO FBT

[vanman_75]

Originally Posted by BAXR8_Ute

That's interesting. I've got a mate at work who salary sacrifices his 2011 SS commodore and he has to pay child support on his gross income before the lease payments come out... It wouldn't surprise me if CSA picks and chooses who they apply rules too..

Yes that rule came in two years ago as I was only paying on my gross after my lease car which saved me about 5 k a year , best and about the only way out is to open a company and get your pay put in that , then draw a small wage off the company as an employee .. but I'm a grandpa now so that killed my maintainence ...at least now I can afford to visit as csa don't really care or die as long as they get their money ...this is even when I had good relationship with ex ...its a long road , pity the kids don't benefit from any of the money ( mostly)

[BAXR8_Ute]

Yes, CSA are a bunch of man haters unfortunately. My ex decided to move to Sydney, about 5 hours away and didn't get a job for ages so I was paying a fortune in support. Then she still wanted extra money to pay for school, clothes etc saying she couldn't afford it. Somehow she always managed to have freshly blonded hair and fancy nails. Usually when I ring to talk to the little fella, she's out on the town. Luckily she's now working so my payments have gone down drastically, and I've got twins due next week so it will go down again slightly. Don't get me wrong, I don't care what it costs or what I have to pay for my son, as long as it goes to him! I understand your problem totally and reckon 90% of separated dads have the exact same problem. I've never heard of the system you described, sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately it helps the man so CSA will probably object to it. On the other hand, if you go to court and the court makes an order, CSA will have no say in the matter.

[Lukeyson]

Your trust idea is good, but as others have said not sure if it is do-able with CSA.
As mentioned equal custody works, but only if mum is on the same wage as you, otherwise who-ever is on the higher dollars, is the paying parent in 50/50 situation.
Best of luck with it, and hats off to all you gents who are paying child support and not dodging it.

[Mack 6]

My previous job there were a fair few CSA horror stories, that cake taker was a mate who's missus met a fella on the internet and buggered off to canada, leaving him and the 3 kids (luckily 2 were over 18) behind. He questioned CSA about what he was entitled to in a moment of weakness. The operator told him that becasue she wasn't working, if she got the dole it would be $26 a fortnight... but because she had gone overseas they wouldn't be able to do anything anyway.
He was amazed and inferred that if it was him who left, they would chase him to the ends of the earth for a dollar. The lady's response was "well, 26 dollars isn't really worth the effort is it" .... huh, what about the principle.

payback came when she couldn't be bothered responding to him applying for sole custody because she was OS, which was granted. Then her "rich" canadian kicked her out and wanted her to payback the cost of her flight over. She came back with her tail between her legs and he told her to nick off, get a job and start up with that back pay. No love left!

[stalker]

ive been pushing her to fight it for quite a while, were about 2 years later and things are finally getting there, its been a battle, and they keep "forgetting" to look at certain aspects of his pay ie meat allowence of 2k per year (manager of a slaughter house) the last time they relooked at it they stepped it up by 150$ per month but they refuse to take any money off him for all the years that his been doing this for as its not fair... go figure.

im sick of the situation, we also cant move more then 5 hours away so ive had to give up jobs in other states which i would have loved qld nt. if we did move he could end up with full time custody of the kid and we would have to pay him money :/

[gtfpv]

sorry guys , reading this i feel so bad . an outsider can see this just isnt fair to fathers . it just doesnt seem right that a woman can be the fault of a seperation , and yet the husband has to house her and pay her to bring up children . adults should be able to go their own ways in equality . why couldnt the law look into peoples past studies for example , then decide who contributed the most in financial , and studied for their career before being married , and then make a judgement based on that .
why cant 2 adults be responsible for upbringing children , rather than the bread winner have to look after everyone .
a marraige is a union , once that union is over the 2 involved should be responsible for themselves , and then share the childrens upbringing , if one cannot afford it than the poorer one needs to adapt thier lifestyle , not the richer one .

[gtfpv]

gto 132 . clear your pm's .

[gtfpv]

any regrets though guys . i mean if you could go back so this didnt happen and be with the same woman today , would that be better than the situation your in now ?

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

any regrets though guys . i mean if you could go back so this didnt happen and be with the same woman today , would that be better than the situation your in now ?

In a word no....But then again i can also see it from the other side. A mate of mines wife can't get any child support from her ex. States his current income at some piddling amount and is 3 months behind in his CSS payments. CSS say they can't do a thing as he is self employed. He drives a BMW , owns a 40foot cruiser and lives in a waterfront on the Northern Beaches . Go figure.

[BAXR8_Ute]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

any regrets though guys . i mean if you could go back so this didnt happen and be with the same woman today , would that be better than the situation your in now ?

Bahahahahaha!!!! Ahh .......no.

[noosacuda]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

any regrets though guys . i mean if you could go back so this didnt happen and be with the same woman today , would that be better than the situation your in now ?

Yes, make her swallow instead.

[FPV8U]

I feel for all you guys and have a close friend in a similar situation with a child overseas that he is lucky to see once a year.

Sadly CSA has this approach due to all the "Top Blokes" like my dad who never made an effort and decided to contribute financial support when and where it suited him (Read: Not very often)

For all you dads out there doing the right thing and making an effort i cannot express how much your children should appreciate it, and i don't mean just by making your payments either.

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

I feel for all you guys and have a close friend in a similar situation with a child overseas that he is lucky to see once a year.

Sadly CSA has this approach due to all the "Top Blokes" like my dad who never made an effort and decided to contribute financial support when and where it suited him (Read: Not very often)

For all you dads out there doing the right thing and making an effort i cannot express how much your children should appreciate it, and i don't mean just by making your payments either.

You dad sounds like mine

[Miss_XR6]

I feel for anyone that has to pay child support and doesnt see the children that often ect

But no 2 men/women who pay it can be looked at the same due to it being based on what that person earns

My close friend gets $14 a week child support cause her ex who she left many years ago lives off the doll as he is a wanabe movie actor
8 years and still nothing
She works full time and is lucky to have friends ansd family who help her out so she has a full income ect

Kids arent cheap
Clothes
Food
School
Sports
Health insurance and medical bills
it can add up
While some may say $10k is suffice sometimes school fees are more than that

[Spudz27]

My mum and dad when they split 18 years ago both sat down and signed an agreement that my dad would pay ex amount per year, with increases based on salary increase until my brother was 18, so even though myself and my sister were beyond 18 he paid the same amount as he would have had we all been under 18. If my mum had not been nice and done that, then my dad would have paid a **** load more in child support, my mum often says if she let CSA handle it we would be rich, but she was not interested in making my dad poor.

[Bearman]

A work colleague of mine did a 2 year stint at the CSA and the stories he told me would make your hair curl. Basically CSA + Bloke = a never ending world of pain!! It didn't take long for him to go and get a vasectomy!!

[trick_xd]

In the CSA rule book it says " Your Capacity to earn "
I pay a fair chunk to them each week and I see my kids every 2nd weekend and 1/2 school holidays , I pay all school fees and after school programs , I have asked time and time again for me to pay into a trust account but they tell me how the mother spends the money its up to her