Child Support Agreements
Child support agreements are resolutions agreed to by separating parents outlining money that is payable to help support the children’s financial needs by a parent that does not have 100% care of the child.
DO I NEED A CHILD SUPPORT AGREEMENT?
You are not legally required to create a child support agreement, but it is recommended in circumstances where you:
- Are being denied fair access to your children?
- Do you have an emotionally or physically abusive former partner?
- Do you accept you can’t have equal time with the children but would like to have equally shared parental responsibility?
WHAT KIND OF AGREEMENT IS NEEDED?
There are several types of child support agreements. In amicable circumstances, separating couples may go for a verbal or an informal agreement, however, in our experience, these can come back to bite one of the parties if the other party changes their mind.
Limited child support agreements can also by restrictive in terms of flexibility to dictate terms and can only stay in place for up to 3 years.
If you’d like to have a legally binding financial agreement about the child support, we recommend obtaining a binding child support agreement.
WHEN SHOULD CHILD SUPPORT AGREEMENTS BE USED?
- If the child is under the age of 18
- If the child was born during the marriage
- If the child was born while you were living together
- If you signed the birth certificate
- If you have acknowledged the child is yours
- If the court has made a finding that you are the parent
Mark Shaw
Tina parsons