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Hi Legal eagle
I wonder if anybody can help me with the following situation !!
My ex-wife took my kids away from me to New Zealand about 15 years ago , I did not know where or when exactly my ex-wife took them so i was informed by my solicitor at the time to stop paying my maintenance and eventually I would get to know there were bouts .
Quite a few years later one of my daughters made contact with me and i went over to Australia to see them both.
On leaving the airport at Perth I was stopped at passport control and refused departure. I had to stay in Australia until I finally agreed to make payment before I could leave the country to start back at work.
My kids are now 24 & 22 respectably . I no longer pay for my children due to their age but I still have arrears to pay, would you know if I’m liable to pay this as the value are over $20K dollars that were back dated without my prior knowledge
How can the Australian CSA make a decision for me to pay the arrears when I had never had any correspondence with them until I made the trip the see my children and I had not been prior warned, I had never changed my address after my ex took my children away from me and never ever had any correspondence from the Australian CSA.
Does the Australian CSA have jurisdiction to do this as I live in the UK, and the original agreement for child maintenance was made with a court order not the CSA in the UK.
Is it worth while taking legal advice or would I be wasting more money with no positive outcome.
My original maintenance agreement was made in the UK as a court order not connected to the CSA.
Your help would be great fully appreciated or has anybody else had any similar dealings with the OZ CSA
Regards Phil
I would have an initial consultation with a solicitor for confirmation, but it seems to me that by stopping paying the maintenance, you are in breach of a court order. I'm not sure of the position of the Australian CSA except that they do have a reciprocal arrangement with the CSA regarding collection of maintenance, but I've no idea what the position is regarding notification of the debt or their involvement. As I say, I think it might be worth getting a quick consultation, and I'd also have a word with your MP to see if it's anything they can take up on your behalf. Ultimately, though, you do have to accept the fact that you were obliged to pay maintenance for your children in some way.
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