Shared care payments

[Tisme]

My friend has just been hit up by her ex for shared care payments for her three girls and was wondering if anyone else has this dilemma looming over them??

A little info bout the situation: She left her husband 18mths ago under domestic violence and abuse. SHe has since moved in with my brother and her ex has access to the girls 2 days a fortnight and has claimed his "entitlements" from centerlink through shared care .... which is 14% of her FATB .... He only pays $260 a yr child support and yet is entitled to $1200 from her.

please is ANYONE else in this situation. As she doesn't understand AT all.

[MissBrightside]

I have no idea about this really but I thought shared care had to be a certain amount of hours (much more than 2 days). I dont get how they worked that one out! She is basically paying her ex to look after the kids, dosent sound right to me.
Has she rung centrelink and asked them what its all about? I know their letters are so confusing, I have to ring them almost everytime I get a letter.

[Tisme]

Didn't sound right to me either but when she rang centrlink the lady was a real cow and basically told her to live with it, he is entitled to it and has been ever since they split because she has a parental agreement stating he has access 2 days a fortnight. so she has to pay BACK the amount he has been entitled to until now and he gets it in lump sum.

she is barely scraping by anyways and this just makes it that much harder.

AND he is entitled to 14% of the $600 payment .... hence the reason I believe he has put in the claim now.

Last year he kidnapped the kids at this time and put in full custody claim .... but with all the records they keep centrelink don't get this! :banghead:

[DB&O]

I don't have any advice to offer but just wanted to say that this situation seems to be insane :eek: Why should the parent looking after the children for the minimum of time be entitled to more help than the custodial parent, just stinks:mad:

[Mum2Bug]

How the h#ll does centrelink work that one out? they are seriously warped. im afraid i have no advice on this. im lucky enough that my ex is unable to see Bug much and isn't the kind of person who would do that.:mad:

[*My Lil Blondie*]

doesnt make any sense to me wither, we have dsd 4 nights a week, buy her all her clothes shoes etc, pay for ballet classes and kinder, yet we still have to pay his ex $420 a month even though through having 2 kids and being a single sahm she earns $38,000 off centrelink yearly which is a hell of a lot more than what we earn and we have jobs!! centrelink sucks :thumbsdown:

so if what your saying is right then she should be paying us not the other way round...

[MissBrightside]

I would tell your friend to call them again! I know how frustrating centrelink are and that there are some real aholes working there. But she has a right to understand why this is happening. Hopefully she can talk to someone who is willing to help and listen to her situation and resolve this ridiculous matter! I think it stinks!

[lovingmumof 2now]

She should rock up at a Centrelink office, thats the only way to get things soughted. That has been the only way I got my stuff sorted.

Poor dear girl, life really can suck for us sole parents.

[Tisme]

Brodiesmummy - that's right you should put in for shared care (although being that you have a job and no dangles you will probably be entitled to diddlysquat)

I don't understand it. So I told her to call them again and the lovely lady on the phone said that she needed to talk to a social worker - as he rang her at lunch time and said "hahahaha YOU have to PAY me" and hung up 6 times in the space of the hour between my call and my visit to her.

She rang and talked to a social worker (and so did I after she broke down on the phone) and she basically said there was nothing to be done ... she couldn't help with payments (being she was ONLY a social worker who I happen to know UNDERGOES training in payments!!) and that until he physically hurt her there was nothing she could do about his "nuisance" calls cept report them to the police.

We rang the police and being that my brother USED to be a not very nice person in the Police eyes they basically told her where to shove her complaint. So I rang them back and asked politely to speak to the senior and asked him where they get the authority to penalise the innocent for trying to make a go of their life and reward the a*hole who CREATED the problem in the first place.

Anyways .. .thank you for your feedback. It's put her mind at ease knowing that she is not the ONLY person on the planet to think it is unfair. Though the centrelink lady (the first nice one) actually suggested she get statements from a community member that knows the children WEREN'T with their father as often as he claims and that MIGHT help. AND SHE APOLOGISED:yelclap: :smiliedance: for all the mix ups and nasty people she has had to talk to about this. Some workers ARE really nice!!

NE ways enough from me!!

[pegasus]

Not sure if you've got all the info you need yet Eleanor, but here goes anyway...

Child support payments don't currently change until you have the child at least 110 nights a year. This will be changing with the passing (on Tuesday) of the new child support legislation to if you have the child at least 52 nights a year.

Instead you can claim a proportion of the Family Tax benefit (part A) if you have the child at least 10% (37nights) of the year, however, if your friend is getting full benefit but her ex isn't entitled to full benefit (according to his income) he will only get a proportion of this. He does not get the money from your friend, it is a separate application to centrelink for the FTB, but she would lose the same proportion of hers. (Eg My hubby's ex gets full FTB as she is on a single parent pension, but we have had my DSS more than 10% of this year so may claim the amount of time we have had DSS as a percentage of the FTB we'll qualify for according to his income. This would also mean that ex would have to pay back a percentage of her FTB, however, that money wouldn't go to us, it goes to centrelink). When the new legislation comes in, you won't be able to claim any of the other parent's FTB.

PS The new child support legislation isn't due to have most of it's changes go through until 2008.

[InSaneOne]

ok how it works for us is:

we have dh's 3 children 32% of the year so in centrelinks eyes it is shared care (child support is a little different to centrelink). we do get 32% of the family tax benefit for the children from centrelink. so for anita and natasha who is entilted to $173 each a fortnight payed to their parents we get $55.60 for each of them and dh's ex gets $118.14 for each of them. adam gets $137 a fortnight so again we get $43.86 of that and the ex gets $93.14. dh also has to pay his ex child support to the value of $45 per week but child support varies due to income fluctuations and how many other children he has to support full time. we are also entitled to part of the $600 top up for each child. all up we will get 32% of the $1800 that the 3 children are entitled to. that works out to be $576.


if you want to discuss it further feel free to pm me.

[Tisme]

OK another long gruelling day for her by the phone to find out his child support payments are so low because he is claiming the Dole (newstart my a**)

also it's the lump sum repayment that she is quering and to which he is referring "you have to me" as she believes the only reason he is putting in the claim now not last year is cos he wants a lump sum.

but i shall pass on your info and insight thanks guys.

[lippintyna]

Illusional:

Actually what you have stated is not quite correct. He can still claim his entitlement even if she doesn't sign the form for the shared care details. If she doesn't sign the form (& she doesn't have to ever), when he lodges it at Centrelink, the will contact her by letter and ask her to verify the level of care that she has. The more documentation that she includes (evidence I mean, stat decs, teacher reports etc) the more she has to substanciate her side of things. If she doesn't respond within 14 days of getting the letter from Centrelink asking about her level of care...then they will just accept his claim as he states it. If she provides the evidence that the level of care is less than 10% & he can't supply the evidence that he does, then he has no entitlement.

He can also backclaim up to 2 financial year, but he would need to confirm his level of care.

Anything that he is entitled to is not taken directly from her (eg if he is entitled to $1000 per year it does mean she loses $1000 per year.) His entitlement is calculated on his circumstances (ie income and level of care), her entitlement is calculated on her circumstances (ie income and level of care). If both are on payments from Centrelink (Newstart & Parenting Payment), then both would be entitled to maximum payment (cos his maintenance wouldn't affect her FTB cos it's too low)at the level of care. That is if we are talking 1 child under 5, his entitlement would be $137.60 (FTBA-max) + $117.00 (FTBB-max) x 14% = $35.64 per fortnight. Her's would be $137.60 + $117 x 86% = $218.97 approx. Then there would be rent assistance as well if that is involved. (Rent Assistance is not affected by shared care). I know in this example it is as though what he gets is taken from her...but, if he gets a job then his entitlements would change.

Hope this helps.

[ashleerose]

If he has taken to Centrelink a court document stating that he has the children ten percent of the time then he will be entitled to make a claim and also backpay.

In my situation i left my ex and (also due to dv). We went to court on a number of occasions and the courts gave him every second weekend, half school holidays, alternate xmas and fathers day, provided that he first complete three months supervised visits.

By rights my ex was entitled to make a claim on my payments.
BUT, as he never completed the three month supervised visits he never got
to unsupervised visits.

During this time i was told to write everything down in a diary. ie any contact he made with me and the kids.

I informed my solictors each time i drove up to Sydney and waited and waited for him to show at Macdonalds with his mum.

It worried me for some time as my ex is also on the dole and i thought there is nothing to stop him from going to Centrelink and saying heres the paperwork i have the kids such and such time when he didnt.

I ended up going back to court and the judge enforced a three month Centrecare supervised visits in my home town and that he was to do a parenting course before unsupervised visits (and now a year later he still hasnt bother) but i am covered as he would need to have documentation from Centrecare in order to say that he has seen kids.

I get the basic childsupport of 6.66 (for two kids) per fortnight as he has another son in queensland.

The good news is that shortly guys like my ex will be paying a minimum of twenty dollars a month to each ex, unfortunately this will not cover what some people are losing due to their deadbeat exes taking a bite out of the mothers payment.

It does need to be fixed, perhaps going to a member of parliament may be of some help.

I would be going back over your diary, calendar checking with preschool/school as to when you have had the kids and seeing if it conflicts with what he is saying as the more things you have to support your claim the better of you will be.

Good luck.

[leightag]

i am currently going through similar so this is what i have learnt via my own calls to centrelink over the last 3 months. 36 percent is what you need to claim any of the childrens ftb. i have 3 children with the share care thing. not 50/50 or any thing but 1 child is 21% and he isnt able to claim any of her ftb. the other 2 its 60/40 so he gets a big 40% of each childs ftb. I am currently contravening the order due to safety concerns i have for my children and i can prove it. i got 1 letter saying you are on notice and he took that to centrelink so for 14 weeks he still got the 40% of their ftb. he hasnt actually done anything to take me to court and its now week 15. i now get all the ftb. if they can prove they are making steps to recover children they can still get the ftb for 14 weeks but that is only to give them time to do those steps. my ex will have explaining to do on why he hasnt done anything to get into court. I would get on their case and ask why you are losing that ftb on the figures provided as its not right. i have been told by at least 4 different centrelink workers that it is 36% and over to claim. hope this helps you

[*Cj*]

I would get on their case and ask why you are losing that ftb on the figures provided as its not right. i have been told by at least 4 different centrelink workers that it is 36% and over to claim. hope this helps you


The figures are right for 2006 when OP first posted this is very old. You should start your own thread.

[leightag]

glad to know the figures have changed over the years. hope it all went well for you and it got sorted xx

[brydz]

Not sure if you've got all the info you need yet Eleanor, but here goes anyway...

Child support payments don't currently change until you have the child at least 110 nights a year. This will be changing with the passing (on Tuesday) of the new child support legislation to if you have the child at least 52 nights a year.

Instead you can claim a proportion of the Family Tax benefit (part A) if you have the child at least 10% (37nights) of the year, however, if your friend is getting full benefit but her ex isn't entitled to full benefit (according to his income) he will only get a proportion of this. He does not get the money from your friend, it is a separate application to centrelink for the FTB, but she would lose the same proportion of hers. (Eg My hubby's ex gets full FTB as she is on a single parent pension, but we have had my DSS more than 10% of this year so may claim the amount of time we have had DSS as a percentage of the FTB we'll qualify for according to his income. This would also mean that ex would have to pay back a percentage of her FTB, however, that money wouldn't go to us, it goes to centrelink). When the new legislation comes in, you won't be able to claim any of the other parent's FTB.

PS The new child support legislation isn't due to have most of it's changes go through until 2008.

OMG this is ridiculous. 52 overnights, so once a week and they can start charging you for child support? Or is it that theirs is decreased.
I don't get any child support anyway, and am not looking forward to the day when FOB has 'enough' time with DS to start claiming my hard earned money considering he helps me out zip financially.