numba | 6 Arguments AGAINST Child Support AGREEMENTS

March 3, 2025| July Solomon

6 Arguments AGAINST Child Support AGREEMENTS

Without a child support agreement, family law will dictate how much child support there is to pay based on both parents’ income, care percentages, and other dependent children. With an agreement, you decide this between the two of you without involving Services Australia or the law.

Anybody can enter an agreement. Most parents enter an agreement when there is significant income or wealth or when the parents want certainty.

Whether you are better off with an agreement or an assessment depends on your circumstances. But it also depends on whether you pay child support or receive it.

So let’s look at this from the paying parent’s perspective (if you receive child support, some of this affects you the same way and some works the other way for you).

Here are 6 arguments against child support agreements, assuming you are the payer.

1 – Legal Fees

You need a family or child support lawyer to draw up the agreement and that of course costs money. So an agreement usually only makes sense when you have enough wealth or income to warrant such an expense.

2 – Binding

A binding agreement is just that: binding. To change it, you usually have to go to court, unless the other parent agrees to the change, which they usually don’t.

3 – Inflexible

If you hit hard times, bad luck. Agreed is agreed. An agreement is about a fixed amount or fixed expenses. It doesn’t link your child support to your income.

4 – No Wiggle Room

Since an agreement doesn’t link your child support to your income, you can’t change your child support by changing your income.

However, if you are an employee or contractor working for yourself, then your wiggle room to adjust your income is very limited anyway.

5 – No Family Tax Benefit

If you enter into an agreement, then the parent receiving child support usually doesn’t qualify for the Family Tax Benefit, hence they will require more support from you.

We say ‘usually’ since there are some exceptions to the rule. For these exceptions, we involve a child support lawyer.

6 – Higher Child Support

An agreement usually results in perceived higher child support. Otherwise, why would the receiving parent sign an agreement? So that would be a downside for you as the payer. But we say ‘perceived’ for a reason. It all depends on what your future incomes do over the years.

So these are 6 arguments that might speak against entering an agreement. But make sure you also consider the other side: 7 Arguments FOR Child Support AGREEMENTS