Is Child Support like a utilities bill? Can you overpay the required amount so that the account remains in credit in case of emergency that a payment is missed? The amount CSA have calculated is $60-$70 per month. I want to pay $25-30 per week as I am working casually and could fall short if I become ill or miss work. Or will me paying the extra amount just be all taken each month and I start at zero at the end of a 30 day period?
3 Replies
Personally I would find another way to put the money aside. Put it into a separate account.
Child support is a funny system where normal rules don't seem to apply. Plus if your paying extra it will show up as that in the other parents documents. They may get it into there head to try and get a reassessment on the grounds you are paying more.
Keep it nice and simple and don't complicate things by putting the money in a separate account for just in case.
It doesn't work that way.
Yes if you overpay you will still have a buffer.
Your child support is actually calculated as an annual amount based on the income from your tax return and reviewed annually. You could pay it at the start of each annual assessment from your tax return and you would still be fine. They break it up into monthly and fortnightly amounts to make it easier for parents to pay. That is all.
There are only limited circumstances in which a change of assessment can be done and they necessitate a large shift from the norm. Such as high medical expenses for chronically ill children, more than 5% of your income spent travelling to see the children, you went to prison, or were suddenly injured/permanently disabled assessments don't happen just because mum got greedy or they would be done every other week.
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/forms/cs1970
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/child-support/child-su...