Are you responsible for a child and owed child support? If so, you aren’t alone. It’s challenging enough to be a responsible caregiver without experiencing the compounding effects of being denied basic resources. Van Beveren Lawyers can provide you with effective & affordable relief to help to recover unpaid child support large or small.
Child Support Collect
If your child support is collected by Services Australia via Child Support Collect, Services Australia can use its enforcement powers to make people pay unpaid child support in the following ways:
If your child support is registered as Child Support Collect, the first place to contact is the Child Support Agency. However, Services Australia may decide not to chase a debt where the paying parent who owes the child support:
Private Collection
If you have not registered your child support as Child Support Collect, or it is self-managed, then you are responsible for collecting and enforcing any unpaid child support debt yourself.
Debt recovery steps
1. Fill out our Family Law form
Van Beveren Lawyers have a form specifically for Family Law clients to help us support you quickly and efficiently. Fill out the form for an obligation free 15 minute evaluation call.
2. Letter of demand
Van Beveren Lawyers will draft a letter of demand addressed to the paying parent who owes the child support debt. A letter of demand sets out:
Letters of demand are effective tools for letting the other party know you are taking the matter seriously and creates a window for discussions, negotiation, or for the paying parent to pay the debt in full without the need to take further legal action.
3. Court proceedings
If the paying parent who owes the child support debt does not respond to our letter we may advise initiating court proceedings.
It is highly advisable to get competent legal advice before commencing any court proceedings. Court proceedings may be expensive and time-consuming. If you decide to proceed with a court application and you are not successful in proving your case, a court may order you to pay the costs incurred by the other party for the court proceedings, as well as being responsible for your own legal costs.
To begin court proceedings, we will work with you to file the following documents:
These documents are witnessed by your lawyer and then filed at the Family Law Courts Registry.
There must be four copies filed of these documents—one for the court to keep, one for your file, one to be served on the DHS and one to be served on the paying parent who owes the child support debt. The court will stamp (seal) the documents and provide a court hearing date.
4. Serving documents
We will arrange for legal service of the documents on the paying parent who owes the child support debt. ‘Service’ is a legal term used to describe giving or delivering court documents to another person in a way that satisfies the court that the person has actually received them.
You can’t personally serve the documents yourself. We arrange a ‘process server’ on your behalf —a person who delivers or ‘serves’ documents by handing them to the person concerned.
5. Enforcement
If the debt recovery proceedings are successful, the court may make one or more of the following orders for the payment of arrears:
The Family Law Act Part VII Division 13A provides sanctions for contravention of orders made under that Act. A court can imprison a person who contravenes a parenting order for child maintenance when they do not pay child maintenance after being ordered to do so.
About Van Beveren Lawyers
Van Beveren Lawyers based in Victoria provide high-quality, timely and tailored legal solutions with price certainty Australia-wide. We focus on quality services, building relationships and forging long-term partnerships. Together, we invest in your ongoing success.
Our Family Law team specialise in:
Contact Us for an obligation free 15 minute evaluation call.
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