What does Child Support Cover the cost of?

[MeganH]

Im just wondering what Child support is supposed to cover the cost of. They say general living expenses. So does this include clothing, school, kindy, sports, school uniforms etc? Will child support increase when the child starts school to cover the costs of schooling and uniforms? Ive been asking XP to pay half for the extra activities eg. kindergym, dancing classes and dance shoes etc but he complains and goes on about that he doesnt "HAVE" to pay for them. Ive said that if he wants them to be able to do these extra things he should help pay. So anyway, wondering what comes under general living expenses.

[Butterfly Child]

id like to no this to.. i atm only get 16.50 a fortnight for cs for my dd.. and havent ever spent a cent of it, i have put it in an account for her or for when shes older and we may need it for her.

Getting back on topic i think everyday expenses would be like what you said food/clothing/ school things i would think would be included in that imo

[Elocin]

TBH, I don't really know...

We pay DH's ex $200 a week and have the girls half the time. We also pay for half of ALL school fees, uniforms, sporting (netball, gymnastics), physio appts / optomotrists appts etc. If the girls need clothes for our place, we buy them and they must stay at our place.

I don't really know what 'living expenses' are classified as... although I can certainly tell you that we don't spend $200 a week on the kids.

The amount you receive is calculated on your's and your Ex's yearly income, so it won't change when your LO's start school - unless obviously, your / his income does. DH's ex is going back to work next month after nearly 3 years on Mat Leave, so our payments will (hopefully) go down.

Sorry, I haven't really been much help at all have I?

I do agree with what you say though - that if he wants the kids to do all the 'extra' things that he should help pay for them... I don't begrudge having to pay for things like netball and gymnastics, because it gets the girls out of the house and into the fresh air.

[Lulu]

It's based on his/your income. NOt activities etc.

Some parents will pay half for that stuff, some won't but I'm pretty sure that isn't 'general or living ' expenses.

[~clover~]

I think it depends on how much you get. If your X in on centrelink payments, CS is only about $25 or something a month, so I guess it wouldn't cover much. A pack of nappies?
Some people get alot more though & because when CS goes up your centrelink payments go down, then it would go to other things like food & rent.
I think its your choice where it goes. But thats only the amount he's entitled to pay. He doesn't legally have to pay any extra at all. Even for activities.

[briggsy's girl]

child support is to support the basic needs of the children, based on the incomes of both "homes" - some families will have a mum doing it tough, dad on big income, so a large amount of child support. some will be the other way around, and no child support will change hands. the calculation takes into account how much time the children spend with each parent, the income of both parents and all that stuff. it's not supposed to cover a certain expense - it's there to "support" the children based on the means of the parent paying child support

[MeganH]

Wow Elocin, my XP only pays $100 a week for 3 children, but that is based on our last estimate which was fairly low, he has now had a promotion and a payrise and is doing alot more overtime.

[~clover~]

That will change after the financial year when his tax is done then. You can ask CSA to reassess his income though I think

[Elocin]

Wow Elocin, my XP only pays $100 a week for 3 children, but that is based on our last estimate which was fairly low, he has now had a promotion and a payrise and is doing alot more overtime.

Wow is certainly one word for it... DH is on a great wage at the moment and with his Ex having been on maternity leave for so long, the amount has hovered around $200 a week for the last couple of years.

Once she lodges her next tax return, it should go down.

Wow is certainly not the words I use trust me

(Especially when we had taken the girls away with us for a week, the Ex called DH and asked him to put the CS money into her account a couple of days early because she needed to buy a cot for her new baby... sadly, I'm not joking...)

BG, we have been told that the amount has nothing to do with 'household income' as such - only DH's and the Ex's income, is this correct? I personally that it should take household income into account, because my DSD's life are certainly better off that both households have 2 incomes, but DH has been told numerous times that the amount won't change no matter what I or the Ex's DP earn.

DH has also been told that the amount of time the girls spend at each house IS NOT taken into account... which I have always found odd...

Sorry for taking over your thread MeganH!!!

[briggsy's girl]

i can't remember the exact calculation - but basically if there are two homes (as there generally are) an amount for "accomodation" is taken out of their income before child support is calculated. there is a reduction to the amount of child support payable if the payer has the children more than (i believe) 14% of the time. it's the most messy calculation...

your income as such doesn't come into it - it is only his - but there is more to it in regard to other dependents and all that. really really messy!

[Cupcake]

DH has also been told that the amount of time the girls spend at each house IS NOT taken into account... which I have always found odd...

Ours is...we have 28% shared care of DSD and should that percentage go down our rate that we pay her mother would increase..and vice versa, if we had her more our rate would decrease.

Maybe get DH to double check CSA have the correct care % down ... sorry bit OT

MeganH your ex doesnt have to pay more then calculated by CSA but as the other ladies have said, if he wishes his daughter to participate in those after school activities then he should contribute. Guess it comes down to what kind of relationship you have with him now, friendly or not?

[Peg]

child maintence is to help in the general costs of raising kids...nothing specific

a parent could spend it on the rent one month, a new school uniform the next and a new bike for the child the next...or school fees, medication etc etc Its for anything.

But you have to realise that once your X pays his required amount of maintenence, he is not required to pay any extra. The mother is still required to use some of her own money to put towards the childs expenses...they are not just all for the dad to pay.

And if he wanted to, he could inform the child support agency of exactly how much extra he paid you and they would deduct the amount out of next months maintenance.

I know its a hard pill to swallow, but dads dont have to pay for everything. They pay their required amount, which is means tested, and thats all he has to pay. If a mum wants her child to do extra activities that cost money, she probably should just be using all the maintenance on such things before asking the x for more money.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

i agree peg

[Lulu]

With all due respect to Hollo and Peg - sometimes CSA doesn't even cover the basics.
Asking the other parent to pay only HALF of a child's activities really isn't asking too much, it's for the benefit of the children.

[MeganH]

I thought it was fair to ask for half of the extra activities they do. After looking at the csa website I believe as they get older the percentage will increase as children cost more as they get older. Does anyone have an idea how much public schooling will cost me? I believe I will be getting a school card and have been told it shouldnt cost much at all.

If you havent guessed, I am quiet new to all this stuff. Ive never been through anything like this before, never had to go to centrelink etc etc we only just separated in January and Ive always worked until May last year before I had DD2. Stuff knows where Id fit work into my day at the moment, I take my hat off to single parents who work and care for their children full time.

[Pandora]

I'm with lulu. If dh and I were to split tomorrow he wouldn't have to pay me anything at all.
I don't think most people expect the dad to pay for everything just make a fair contribution based on what they can afford, andbe honest in declaring their income. I don't think the current system is fair at all, but I also don't know how to fix it.

[Peg]

With all due respect to Hollo and Peg - sometimes CSA doesn't even cover the basics.
Asking the other parent to pay only HALF of a child's activities really isn't asking too much, it's for the benefit of the children.

I agree, but legally he doesnt have to. The maintenance is calculated and based on his income. So the more he earns the more he pays (or vise versa) But that money that is means tested is the legal amount...he isnt required to pay anymore.

Morally he certainly should...but the same can be said of the mother. She should be putting some of her own money towards the cost of raising her children. This may not be practical because most mums are not fulltime workers (myself included) so we earn much less then they do. I guess this is why separation and divorce are not the best option and probably should be avoided... much like we are encouraged to avoid having a c-section over a natural birth

[Cupcake]

I think what they were saying is while it may not be fair, the person paying the CS doesnt have to pay anymore then their calculated amount.