Child maintenance

[Mom]

I heard a story yesterday about a guy who is paying $3000 a month in Child Maintenance - of which his ex-partner only recieves $650. He was told the rest goes toward admin fees (read, Government coffers) and offsetting the fact that many people are not paying any maintenance.

Am I the only one who thinks this is scandalous?

There are many stories of inequity in the system we currently have for the payment of child support in this country, I wont bore you with the sordid and financially crippling details of the one sided arrangement that I ended up with, cost me plenty.

The worst one is if either partner is on the DPB. In order to get the full entitlement they have to have child support coming from the other parent. So the non beneficiary parent is assessed and pays what is required, or else! The recipient parent receives $12.50 a week regardless of what is actually paid by the non custodial parent.

Had some friends in this situation, friggen appalling, he was paying an enourmous amount of money, she was getting almost none of it.

[rustic101]

What pissed me off the most was that I wrote to every man and his dog. Asking if a part of the payment could be put into a trust fund rather than being pissed up against the wall... Their reply was its hers and she is entitled to do what she wants with it... As a result I stopped paying for school camps etc in addition to CSP's and while a hard thing to do I have not talked to my children in over 12 months, despite emails texts etc... Not IRDs fault but just one of the many dilemmas of a paying parent.

[Pedrostt500]

Ah Child maintenace, The Screwing you get for the Screw you had.

[Genie]

no god bless fathers who pay towards the raising of their children, especially those born within a mariage or committed long term relationship.

I sound naive...coming from someone who knows 5/8ths of fuck all about it that's rich.

[Winston001]

Lot of confusion here regarding a pretty simple system. Child Support is a payment made by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent to assist with supporting the children. Usually the person looking after the kids isn't working, or has a restricted ability to earn.

There is a formula in the Child Support Act - starts at 17% of the non-custodial parent's gross income (from memory). There is also a maximum amount.

The Department of Social Welfare (now WINZ) used to collect Child Maintenence but were hopeless at it. That is why IRD was given the job in about 1990. They still miss a lot even so.

Many many parents who have their children with them live purely on the Domestic Purposes Benefit. Where does the DPB come from......?? You and me, the taxpayer. So Child Support is merely a contribution from the other parent to repay members of the public. The smallest amount is $10/wk and plenty pay at that level.

If the Liable Parent Contribution exceeds the DPB then all of the extra money is passed on to the custodial parent. But this is a rare situation.

Parents who are not in the benefit system are allowed to negotiate their own payments and ignore the LPC formula.

Most of the anger at IRD over these payments is either because of the very tough penalties for non-payment, or because of residual bitterness between the parents.

[Katman]

no god bless fathers who pay towards the raising of their children, especially those born within a mariage or committed long term relationship.

I sound naive...coming from someone who knows 5/8ths of fuck all about it that's rich.

5/8ths of fuck all?

I've been with my partner for 25 years - married for 10.

I'd put it at 7/8ths of fuck all, at the very least.

[Usarka]

Hate is not a word I use lightly but I HATE IRD as much as I HATE ACC and Dr N. Smith

Fuck is the IRD that bad???

[Genie]

5/8ths of fuck all?

I've been with my partner for 25 years - married for 10.

I'd put it at 7/8ths of fuck all, at the very least.

....nice committment there. Good to see. NOt all last the distance. So you have 7/8th's worth of understanding of the Child Support system based on your lasting relationship.

[Katman]

....nice committment there. Good to see. NOt all last the distance. So you have 7/8th's worth of understanding of the Child Support system based on your lasting relationship.

How about...........

DPB = I'd rather watch The Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives than get my lazy arse off the couch and find a job?

[Mom]

How about...........

DPB = I'd rather watch The Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives than get my lazy arse off the couch and find a job?

Generalisations like that are going to earn you infractions, I feel it in my water

Winston001 is also guilty of the same offense if he thinks the current system is fair. It is so not fair it is not funny! The way it can and is manipulated is appaling and so damaging for all sorts of reasons.

[Owl]

How about...........

DPB = I'd rather watch The Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives than get my lazy arse off the couch and find a job?

You really aren't up with the play are you?. The Young & the Restless went off air months ago, permanently! Housewives were up in arms and there were calls for the resignation of TVNZ's daytime programming director

[Genie]

How about...........

DPB = I'd rather watch The Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives than get my lazy arse off the couch and find a job?

ahhh...but you generalise based on what? Who is to say raising children isnt a job? A nanny is employed as a nanny to rise someones' children at a cost of average $350.00 per week based on a friend of mine's income for nannying for 30hours per week.

sitting on a fat arse being to lazy to get a job...FFS, what bullshit.

[Genie]

You really aren't up with the play are you?. The Young & the Restless went off air months ago, permanently! Housewives were up in arms and there were calls for the resignation of TVNZ's daytime programming director

so, is a housewive then to lazy to get of her arse and get a job. hmmmm, being married and not working is fine, being not married, raising chldren from a marriage and claiming DPB (for which m ex-husband more than pays for in his child support) is lazy!!!!!

[sidecar bob]

sorry fella, it's not like this these days....they have made many changes over the last few years as in the past it wasn't a fair system at all.

Uuh, been involved up until very recently, thats how it was.

[sidecar bob]

no god bless fathers who pay towards the raising of their children, especially those born within a mariage or committed long term relationship.

I sound naive...coming from someone who knows 5/8ths of fuck all about it that's rich.

Katman? Rich? Havent you seen the old clunker of a bike he has to ride. I doubt he's rich, its an old nail.