SA 50/50 Custody of Children - Does Ex Still Pay Child Support?

[Emma1234]

My ex-husband is proving to be a very untrustworthy and hurtful person to me, yet he is quite a good father to our 3 children. He also has another child from a previous relationship and their agreement is very relaxed between them but is legally 54/46 and he has always paid her child support. He has been and is determined that he wants 50/50 custody of children, which was fine but then I was told that if that happens, he never has to pay any child support. Is this true?

He lost his mining job months ago and has since sent us into bankruptcy (haven't filed yet) and he's moved on and doesn't seem to care much. I made a lot of sacrifices with my own employment to enable him to work away from home, as he was doing it for his family.

He has been a very controlling person and I'm positive that he will be returning to high paying jobs again soon and would love to know and see that I'm still struggling financially. He also gets his parents to look after the kids quite a bit, as 3 kids aren't easy to look after when it is something you are not used to doing.

 

[AllForHer]

Child support is worked out according to taxable income and care arrangements. If you have the kids 50/50 and he earns more than you, it's likely he'll have to pay child support to you. If you earn more than he does, then you'll have to pay child support to him.

Just of note, the emotional aspect of this is reasonably irrelevant for child support purposes. If his arrangements with his ex are flexible, then he's probably quite a good co-parent after separation. It's important to put your personal disputes aside and focus on co-parenting for the benefit of the kids. I would truly hate to see anything you could gain in child support lost to lawyer fees if you end up in court.

 

[sammy01]

Go to the Dept. Human Services website. Search for the child support estimator.

You can put in some estimates based on your situation and get an answer about child support and family tax. If I had my kids 51% of the time, I'd still have to pay child support because I earn $100 000 and my ex works cash in hand and claims unemployment benefits.

The system is ok - it is when people try and manipulate it to her their ex that the system sucks.

You said he has always been an active dad - I read that as he doesn't want 50/50 to screw you over. He wants it because he is a good dad. Good.