Child support is assessed by Services Australia on a formula — income, care nights and the costs of children. It works for most families and badly for some, which is why there are ways to change an assessment or to make a binding agreement instead. Spousal maintenance is separate: it is about one person being unable to support themselves adequately while the other can help, and it is frequently overlooked.
Part of our Family law practice.
Care percentages and income figures are the usual errors, and both are fixable.
A change of assessment, a private agreement or a binding agreement — they do different things and lock you in to different degrees.
Spousal maintenance is a distinct claim with its own time limits, and it is often missed entirely in a settlement.
There is a change of assessment process for exactly that, on defined grounds — special needs, high costs of contact, income not reflecting capacity. It is worth using rather than simply not paying.
Support paid by one former partner to the other where that person cannot adequately support themselves and the other has capacity to pay. It is separate from child support and from property settlement, and it has its own time limits.
General information only — for advice about your situation, book a consult or call us.
Speak with a family lawyer across Victoria — book online, or call us.
