Child Support in New Zealand
I know it’s a minefield trying to figure out what is best for your family when it comes to child support and who pays what and where to start with it all. It can cause a lot of unrest and heated debates when you are already going through turbulent times with your family. Don’t procrastinate. The longer you delay dealing with it the longer it will take to resolve.
Many of my clients agree on things like this once we put a parenting agreement in place, (which I always highly recommend considering before you actually separate or not so long after you separate). A parenting plan/ agreement will cover the costs of the children’s day to day expenses, GPs, dentists, school fee’s and the like. Some families have a private agreement on how much child support is paid weekly or monthly on top of the 50/50 extra expenses children incur. Some families do 50/50 parenting and split the costs of the children
down the middle and others find it easier to have the IRD work out the child support and have it deducted from your spouse’s or your wages. If you can be reasonable amicable it’s a conversation I suggest you have early on in the piece so you all know where you stand with finances. If you can avoid family courts and dragging it out for months on end, a mutual agreement is advisable.
A lot of factors come into how much child support is paid. For example, who has custody of the children the majority of the time or who earns more income, etc.
The IRD website has information available and includes a calculator. I would suggest reading all you can and making an appointment at your local work and income office to discuss child support payments.
http://www.ird.govt.nz/contact-us/
http://www.ird.govt.nz/childsupport/child-support-index.html
Jeremy Sutton has a good link here about how child support works and how he can help you
if you are not receiving the payments you are entitled to.
Also if you are the day to day caregiver you may also be entitled to working for family’s tax credits. Check out this link below.
http://www.ird.govt.nz/wff-tax-credits/understanding/eligible/