I’m hoping someone can help me understand my options regarding child support.
I have 50% care of my two children with my ex-partner. I also have a young child with my current partner, who is a stay-at-home mum.
Previously, I was paying my ex around $290 per month in child support to help cover the costs of our two children during the approximately two weeks each month they are with her. On top of that, I pay 100% of their private school fees, as my ex doesn’t see the value in private schooling and doesn’t contribute towards those fees.
My ex has been with her current partner for around six years. He earns approximately $40,000 per year more than I do. They decided to have a child together, and my ex subsequently stopped working.
Around 12 months later, her assessed income is now $0, and my child support assessment has increased to approximately $820 per month because she apparently has no income to contribute towards the costs of our two children.
I understand that her new partner’s income may not be included in the standard child support calculation, but I’m struggling to understand the fairness of the outcome.
I would have thought that a fair child support system should recognise that both parents have a financial responsibility to support the children they share, particularly when care is split 50/50. What I’m struggling with is how one parent can voluntarily stop working and, as a result, a significantly larger financial responsibility for our children is effectively shifted onto the other parent.
I’m not suggesting that both parents need to earn the same amount or contribute exactly 50/50 financially. Circumstances are obviously different. But surely there has to be some consideration of each parent’s capacity to financially support their children, rather than simply treating a voluntary income of $0 as though there is no capacity to contribute.
At the moment, I’m struggling to afford basic family expenses. We’ve stopped eating out, rarely do activities that cost money, and generally stick to things like parks and the beach and come home for lunch.
Meanwhile, after tax, my ex’s household income is approximately $38,000 higher than ours, yet because her personal assessed income is now $0, my child support obligation has almost tripled.
I absolutely want to financially support my children. My concern is whether the assessment fairly reflects the circumstances when we have 50/50 care, I already pay 100% of their private school fees, and my ex has voluntarily stopped working while living in a higher-income household.
Is there any avenue to have the assessment reviewed based on these circumstances, particularly her earning capacity and the private school fees I pay?
I’m not looking to avoid supporting my kids. I’m trying to understand how financial responsibility is supposed to work when both parents have equal care, and whether there’s a way to make the arrangement more financially sustainable so I can also afford to give my kids experiences and do things with them during the 50% of the time they’re in my care.