Child support

I’ve noticed lots of questions coming up about this, so let’s break it down.

What it is

Child support is the only legally enforceable financial contribution from a parent and helps cover the day-to-day costs of raising a child. It does not automatically include extras such as school fees, uniforms, medical expenses, or extracurricular activities..

How it works

Child support is managed through the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), not Family Court. IRD payments are calculated automatically based on both parents’ incomes recorded with the IRD, and the child’s care arrangements. Applying for child support is relatively simple and works through the MyIR portal . If you want to manage your expectations you can use the IRD calculator to get an estimate of what you may pay or receive.

Note: The IRD considers care when it reaches roughly 28% of care percentage (about 4 nights per fortnight). Below this, payments are mostly unaffected. Once care goes above this threshold, child support payments are reduced proportionally.

However, you don’t have to use the IRD calculations - most parents manage to organize financial support privately. The IRD can help to process privately agreed regular support payments but that’s optional.

If you think the IRD calculation is unfair, you can request a review or appeal to the Family Court in certain circumstances, though outcomes aren’t guaranteed.

Extra contributions

While the law doesn’t require additional contributions beyond child support, parents often negotiate private agreements for school fees, medical expenses, or extracurricular activities. It’s recommended to ideally document these in writing to protect both parties.

Unfortunately, if the other parent isn’t contributing, there isn’t really a way to enforce it.