Grrr Child Support - a boohoo

[C~Q]

No thats ok! We're all here to help each other! It's because I get the max amount of child support so I get basic FTB and no RA.

[Beatrix]

hun

i dont know what you get told but i get RA while getting max FTB and PP so you should be entiltled to it

i dont get heaps of cs though ($100 p/w)

[briggsy's girl]

the amount of ftba and rent assistance is child support dependent - so CQ is right saying if she is receiving max CS, she gets basic ftba and no RA.

[C~Q]

I don't get rent assis and I get basic FTB because I get so much CS ($2700 a month) so I suppose they class it as an income (which it is).

Beatrix I can't believe you get $100 per week WTF?

I just spoke to a lady at the family law courts and she said that they won't give advice on anything not related to children and neither will legal aid so she said i'm best off calling around lawyers and seeing who will give me enough info to see if it's worth pursueing like you said BG.

So mistree can I call around lawyers and see if any of them work with Legal Aid? Is that how it works? Man i'm so confused now!

[Yael]

My DH works for CSA. When he gets a chance over the next week or so (he is taking his first lot of hols for the year), i'll ask him to come in here and give some advice.

[C~Q]

Thanks Yael, that would be great

MT - I'll call around, thanks. I would have thought legal aid covered everything legal but who knows, i'll call them on Monday.

[Melly01]

Sorry to hear about all your problems with XH & CS.. It must be so frustrating.

I know I'm a bit frustrated with my X's $25 a month and now he's going around saying that he's paid off all his debt, got a new loan, bought a new car & heaps of othr stuff, but won't have to pay more CS until end of the financial year next year. This is with his new job as a "Qualified IT consultant" gr. I know I could have gotten him to do a private agrrement for CS but I just don't trust that he'd pay it every month.

But anyway, sorry for whinging.. I hope you get more based on what you and your children should be entitled to. I don't know much about any of it but it doesn't seem like it is a fair situation. I just wanted to offer my support.

[Amity]

THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE PERTAINING TO YOUR OWN SITUATION - I RECOMMEND YOU OBTAIN INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE...

Honey, spousal maintenance is something you really need to get a wriggle on, because if you leave it for a while after you've split, then the Court will take that into consideration when determining how much you REALLY need spousal maintenance.

You can get spousal maintenance without getting a property settlement - it's separate.

First you need to establish that you have a "need" for spousal maintenance. THat is, that your income exceeds your expenses on a weekly basis. For this purpose, your Centrelink entitlements are disregarded. There is a form on the Family Court website (it's called a Financial Statement) that you will need to fill in, particularly Part N is very important because it sets out what you spend for yourself and the children on a weekly basis. It's important not to under- or over-estimate on these things - be realistic and make sure that you have enough (eg you spend $X on gifts throughout the year, for Christmas, easter, birthdays, other kids birthdays, etc and then average that amount over the year, you'll be surprised, also clothes are expensive with kids, as are nappies etc).

So at the end of the week, you have a "need" of $X (ie your expenses are more than your income by $x).

You then need to establish that he has a capacity to pay. This should be fairly easy if he earns bucketloads.

He may have to pay spousal maintenance for a period of time, in a lump sum, or permanently. THis will depend on your own particular circumstances.

You can also ask the Court to make him pay your legal fees. If you have no other way of supporting yourself, this is certainly something to be aware of.

Get a lawyer to write to him, outlining what your reasonable needs are, and giving him a suggested figure on a weekly basis. This is IN ADDITION to your Child Support. Yes it will reduce your FTB, but he has a legal obligation to support you.

Best wishes.

[C~Q]

Divvy - Thank you so much! It's really hard at the moment because we're on good terms and he thinks there is still the possibility of us getting back together. I don't, but I also don't want to rush to push him out of my life till i'm really sure. So I don't want to antagonise him by saying "I want this and that" but perhaps I should...

Thank you for your advice, i'm going to ring around on Monday and see if anywhere offers free consultations.

I just still can't believe that even though he's going to earn around 300K this year he still only has to pay $27000 It just doesn't seem right **shakes head**