Grrr Child Support - a boohoo

[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**

[briggsy's girl]

if he still thinks theres a "chance" he should be bending over backwards to try and make life as easy as possible for you!!

[C~Q]

He is but I think he'll see me asking him about the SM as my way of making myself more financialy distant from him IYKWIM?

I don't know, maybe i'm over-thinking things!

[Beatrix]

unfort hun , you need to live and to do that you need $$

have you told him that your struggling?

[C~Q]

Well the thing is we're not really struggling, I can pay all my bills and be left with about $500 a fortnight for living expences so it is do-able but it's very tight. But I just don't see why he should be living it easy while i'm limiting myself to one tank of fel a week and stressing over not having any money for Xmas pressies

[Yael]

Just quickly, as DH is busy, he said yes, there is a way of getting them to pay more than the cap, with the new scheme. He will come in here later and tell you how to apply.