Child support - where one parent lives overseas
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The Child Support Agency can help parents with child support assessments, court ordered child maintenance and spousal maintenance where one of the parents is a resident overseas.
If you receive child support, you are known as the receiving parent. If you pay child support, you are known as the paying parent.
The law in this area can be complex and you should seek the assistance of the Child Support Agency or get legal advice.
Can I get child support or spousal maintenance from a parent who lives overseas?
It depends where the other parent lives.
The Australian Government has agreements with many overseas countries for collection and enforcement of payments for child maintenance, child support and spousal maintenance. These countries are called reciprocating countries or reciprocating jurisdictions.
For spousal maintenance you will need a court order.
For child support or child maintenance some overseas countries only accept court orders but many countries such as New Zealand, England and the United States will accept assessments of child support made by the Australian Child Support Agency.
Who can help me with this?
The Child Support Agency can tell you whether you need a court order or an assessment.
The Child Support Agency cannot help you get court orders. For court orders you should ask a solicitor for advice.
When you have a court order, lodge it with the Child Support Agency.
When the Child Support Agency has accepted your court order, or has accepted your application for child support assessment, it will then liaise with a Child Support Agency or government department in the overseas country. The overseas country will be responsible for collecting payments from the payer and sending them to Australia.
What happens if the paying parent lives in a country that does not have an agreement with Australia?
It will be very difficult for you to get any child support or child maintenance. In most cases, Australian maintenance orders and assessments will have no force in the overseas country and there will be no government department in the overseas country to help you get payments.
Paying parents
Do I have to pay child support if the children and receiving parent live overseas?
If the receiving parent and the children live in a reciprocating country and they are eligible to receive child support according to Australian laws, you may have to pay child support.
The receiving parent applies to the child support agency of the country where they live and that authority sends a request to the Child Support Agency in Australia to collect the child support from you.
I have a child support assessment or court order from an overseas country, do I still have to pay it if I live in Australia?
If you have a child support assessment or court order or child maintenance order from an overseas country that has an agreement with Australia, the overseas authority can request the Australian Child Support Agency to collect the child support from you.
Important: The law in this area is complex and you should contact the Child Support Agency or get legal advice about your options.