13 Jan Child Support – Is there a way out of it?
In short, no. Parents have an obligation to financially support their children. Many a client has asked us to assist them in facilitating or designing a mechanism by which they are able to pay less child support, to which we always answer, thank you but no thank you.
With creative accounting, child support can become more tax effective, through the establishment of a Child Maintenance Trust, where there are expensive school fees and other costs to be met over an extended period, however by and large, short of simply ceasing work (certainly not recommended), child support is unavoidable.
What is beneficial is to engage with your former spouse/co-parent and come to a mutually acceptable fixed amount of child support and arrangements regarding who pays for what third party costs, such as school fees, private health insurance, medical and dental and extra-curricular activities and document that agreement by way of a binding child support agreement. This will save future and ongoing involvement with the child support agency and also provide certainty (for both parents) as to who is to pay what in the future, which is extremely beneficial when out of the ordinary expenses for the children arise, for example major dental or orthodontic work.
We can discuss the best way forward for your child support matter in a no obligation initial discussion – call us today.
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