Custody of Children, Interstate Move & Child Support Agreement

[ksam]

Hi. My partner has a 6 year old daughter. The mother of his daughter has remarried and is moving interstate. Can she take the daughter legally without an agreement in place?

When she was 2 years old, they had a mediator written request that neither could live more then 100kms away, and then it was meant to be shared custody 50-50 when the daughter turned 3 this has never happened (custody of children).

We also have a private aggreement in place of child support every week now she wants weekly payments plus us to pay for full Private School fees. With the move, she is saying we would have her for holidays, but when it comes to Christmas, she expects to have her back and never share Christmas.

What can we do to stop this? We also have a company and he works for me. If she was to legally go for child support, do we have to back pay previous years?

 

[rebeccag]

G'day ksam,
Have a look at these LawAnswers Family Law Forum threads:

• 'Family Court Orders, Distance and Child Custody' and the Family Law Courts 'Relocation and Travel' page for information about what to do about relocation of children. Ultimately, what is in the best interests of the child is the paramount consideration.
• "Children Custody Rights - Travel Distance" that has some information about legally enforceable parenting arrangements.

Also check out the LawAnswers Family Law Forum post 'Can My Mum Get Child Support Back Payments' that has information about child support and backdating.

 

[Sophea]

Hi Ksam, unless your mediated custody agreement is registered or you have a consent orders (filed with the court) it is unlikely that it is legally binding. You may need to go through the courts to get an order to stop her and to put some more formal arrangements in place if she is not sticking to the original plan.

With respect to the private school fees, your partner is not legally required to contribute to private school fees.

If the mother of his children decides to send them to a private school, and he refuses to contribute, she will be required to pay the school fees herself.

When a child support assessment is made, a formula is used to evaluate the costs associated with living and educational expenses which is based on the costs incurred in the public school system. Alternatively, if a parent chooses to send their child to a private school -and the other parent refuses to pay - the onus is on the parent who has made the decision to send the child to a private school, to still pay the associated school fees.

Hope that helps