Ending a Child Support agreement 277-02010040

If an event occurs or an Agreement/Court Order is received that is likely to end a child support agreement, consider adding a special recovery condition. This allows Child Support to make a decision on whether intercepting a tax refund is appropriate while processing of the new event/ Agreement/Court Order is in progress. See Tax Refund Intercept Process (TRIP) Cuba Process Help.

An agreement may end if a section 12 terminating event has occurred.

For a list of section 12 terminating events, see the Child Support Guide 2.10.3 Terminating events.

If a section 12 terminating event has happened, the assessment will end for the relevant child or children. An agreement for the relevant child or children should show as ended in the Child Support system from the same date that the assessment ended.

Note: Some agreements should permanently end if a Section 12 terminating event has occurred but some should not. If a section 12 terminating event has previously happened and the assessment later restarts, some agreements should resume. This will depend on the type of terminating event that previously happened and on the type of agreement provisions. See Managing changes affecting a Child Support agreement and Effect of a terminating event on a child support agreement.

Has a section 12 terminating event occurred?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

Has the event been processed?

• Yes, check the processed agreement shows the correct end date in the system. If required consult a Service Support Officer (SSO).For any changes to:
• Binding Agreements, see Table 2, Step 9
• Limited Agreements, see Table 3, Step 8
• No, see Terminating events (Stage 2)

An agreement may end if the payee under the agreement ceases to be an eligible carer.

Has the payee under the agreement ceased to be an eligible carer?

• Yes, see Suspending or ending a Child Support agreement due to care
• No, go to Step 5

If the agreement is:

• a Binding or Transitional Binding Agreement, see Table 2
• a Limited Agreement, see Table 3

A binding or transitional binding agreement can be ended by:

• a provision in the agreement that specifies the end date or specifies an event that will end the agreement. Go to Step 2
• a subsequent binding agreement with provisions to end the previous agreement. Go to Step 3
• a termination agreement. Go to Step 4
• a court order setting aside the child support agreement. Go to Step 5
• a written agreement, when there is a transitional binding agreement. Go to Step 6

A binding agreement may contain provisions about ending or changing the agreement. Examine the full text of the child support agreement to see if it contains any such provisions, reading the agreement as a whole. There may be multiple clauses which, when considered in combination, end the child support agreement.

The full text of the agreement should be in the View Correspondence window or in the Case window notepad.

If the terms of the agreement include specific events or conditions that will cause a change to the effect of the agreement and a specified event or condition happens, the effect of the agreement will change. See Managing changes affecting a Child Support agreement.

If the terms of the agreement include:

• a specific date on which the agreement ends and that date has arrived or
• specific events or conditions that will end the agreement and a specified event or condition happens, the agreement will be ended

the agreement will end from the date specified or the date that the specified event or condition happened.

Go to Step 7

If the new agreement states when the previous agreement will cease, record the end date in the Additional Registration window.

If the new agreement does not specify an end date for the previous agreement, end the current agreement from the day before the date of effect of the new agreement.

Go to Step 7

A child support liability, whether started by a child support agreement or formula assessment, can be ended by a termination agreement, which provides for a liability to end from a specified date, this date must be a future date. See Agreements Cuba process help.

If customers are ending their child support liability, advise them to speak to Centrelink about possible impacts on their Centrelink entitlements. Offer to warm transfer the customer to Centrelink.

Note: if Child Support accepts a binding agreement to end a child support liability, all customers have the option of re-applying for child support at a later date.

Go to Step 7

Court Orders and accompanying documents are actioned by the Agreement and Court Order Team. The method of processing depends on the wording of the court order and the existing registrations on the case. If the court has set aside the agreement (and the agreement was not an ‘initiating agreement’) it also has discretion to make a departure order, see Court varied assessments (CVA) including lump sum orders.

Where a court order sets aside an agreement, the agreement is terminated on the day the court order states it is to end. To process ending the agreement, see Agreements Cuba process help.

Go to Step 7

Customers can terminate an existing transitional binding agreement by making a written agreement to end the earlier agreement. Customers can do this by:

• completing the 'Ending an existing agreement' section of the Child support agreement form (CS1666), or
• lodging a written request signed by all parties to the agreement to terminate an existing transitional binding agreement.

The effect of this is that the assessment may revert to a formula assessment.

The agreement will end from the date specified in the form or written request.

If no end date is specified, the earlier agreement will end from the date the later agreement is signed.

Go to Step 7

Was the agreement an initiating agreement?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

If the agreement has initiated the child support assessment and the agreement ends, the assessment will end when the agreement ends.

Check if an assessment registration has been recorded and is active. If so, update the end date of the assessment registration so that it ends on the same date as the initiating agreement.

Once the agreement has ended, either customer may apply for an administrative assessment of child support or apply to have a new agreement accepted.

Go to Step 10

If the agreement was accepted when there was an administrative assessment on the case, child support will again become payable under the administrative assessment once the agreement ends (unless the agreement is replaced by a new binding agreement/court order). Make sure the assessment continues by checking that an assessment registration has been recorded and is active.

If the agreement replaced a Change of Assessment (COA)decision or court departure order (CVA), the departure decision will not be reinstated when the agreement ends and child support will be payable under the child support formula.

To make sure the formula applies, check that such a previous COA or CVA registration does not have an end date that is later than the end date of the non-initiating agreement. If it does, update the end date of the COA or CVA registration to end on a date that is not later than the end date of the non-initiating agreement.

Go to Step 10

Contact customers to acknowledge and discuss:

• receipt of their child support agreement termination request (if applicable) or
• the event that has triggered the agreement termination
• what will happen after their agreement ends, that is:
• if the agreement was a non-initiating agreement, the case will be based on a formula assessment, or
• if the agreement was an initiating agreement, the child support assessment will end and no child support will be payable until a new application for assessment is made, or
• may be based on the new binding agreement/court order (if there is one that replaces the existing agreement)
• if their formula assessment reflects their current circumstances? Note: if there has been a section 12 terminating event, that will also end the assessment
• any other identified issues
• they need to contact Centrelink if they receive an income tested payment

See Contact with Child Support customers. Inform customers of the factors considered in making the decision to end or terminate the agreement. If the agreement has not ended, inform the customers of the factors affecting that decision. Discuss appropriate options available to the customers.

Document all conversations on the Additional Registration window notepad.

Consider all relevant information and decide whether the agreement should or should not end from a particular date.

Document the reasons for your decision and reference the legislation used to make your decision in the Case window..

The decision to end an agreement must be authorised by a Service Officer (SO4) or above.

Run eligibility before keying the Agreement termination. Resolve any issues before saving. See Eligibility Cuba Process Help.

Key the agreement termination. To process a termination, go to Agreements Cuba Process Help.

Run eligibility to give effect to the decision. Cuba will propose either accept or refuse the agreement end, based on the information entered.

Review and address the pre-confirmation results and do not save eligibility until every issue is corrected. Identify any unintended results. For example, changing earlier assessments in the main case or reverse case, or failing to properly revert to an ongoing assessment (if applicable) in the main case or reverse case.

Do not save eligibility until the reason for any unexpected results has been determined, and the correct outcome decided.

For assistance with reading the results, see Eligibility window help and if necessary seek assistance from a Service Support Officer (SSO).

See Table 4.

Note: customers should carefully consider whether they want to elect to end the limited agreement because once it is ended all the provisions in the limited agreement will no longer apply and not just the provisions with which customers are not satisfied.

A limited agreement can be ended by:

• a provision in the agreement that specifies the end date or specifies an event that will end the agreement. Go to Step 2
• written agreement to end. Go to Step 3
• written request to Child Support if the agreement was made more than 3 years ago. Go to Step 4
• written request by either party to Child Support if the notional assessment changes by more than 15%. Go to Step 5
• subsequent agreement to end the current agreement. Go to Step 6
• court order setting aside the child support agreement. Go to Step 7

A limited agreement may contain provisions about ending or changing the agreement. Examine the full text of the child support agreement to see if it contains any such provisions. Read the agreement as a whole because there may be multiple clauses that combine together to end the child support agreement.

The full text of the agreement should be in the View Correspondence window or in the Case window notepad.

If the terms of the agreement include specific events or conditions that will cause a change to the effect of the agreement and a specified event or condition happens, the effect of the agreement will be changed. See Managing changes affecting a Child Support agreement.

If the terms of the agreement include:

• a specific date on which the agreement ends and that date has arrived or
• specific events or conditions that will end the agreement and a specified event or condition happens

the agreement will be ended. The agreement will end from the date specified or the date that the specified event or condition happened.

Go to Step 8

Customers can terminate an existing limited agreement by lodging either the 'Ending and existing agreement' section of the Child support agreement form (CS1666) or a written request signed by all parties to the agreement to terminate an existing limited agreement. The effect of this is to revert to a formula assessment.

The agreement will end from the date specified in the form or written request.

If no end date is specified, the earlier agreement will end from the date the later agreement is signed.

Go to Step 8

A limited agreement can be terminated if:

• the agreement was made more than 3 years ago, and
• Child Support has received a written request from a party to the agreement to terminate the agreement

Terminate the agreement on the date 28 days after the valid written request has been received.

Go to Step 8

If there is a variation of more than 15% between the previous and new notional assessments that occurred due to circumstances not contemplated by the agreement, customers can lodge a written request to end the limited agreement.

Allowable timeframe to lodge written request

The customer’s written request to end the agreement must be lodged within 60 days of the customer receiving notice of the new notional assessment, or 90 days if the parent is a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction.

Circumstances contemplated/not contemplated

Examine the agreement to identify circumstances contemplated by the agreement such as specific clauses, inflation factors, modifications or other specifically defined circumstances. For examples of circumstances contemplated and not contemplated by an agreement, see 'Terminating a limited agreement in circumstances not contemplated by the agreement' in the Child Support Guide 2.7.5

Calculating if variation is more than 15%

The variation of more than 15% between the previous and new notional assessment can be either upward or downward. To calculate if the variation is more than 15% compare:

• $A = Previous notional assessment x 15% to
• $B = Higher value notional assessment minus lower value notional assessment

Example 1

A customer’s previous notional assessment was $5,900 and their new notional assessment is $4,750.

$A = $885 ($5,900 x 15%)

$B = $1,150 ($5,900 – $4,750)

As $A is less than $B the variation is more than 15%.

Example 2

A customer’s previous notional assessment was $2,400 and their new notional assessment is $2,700.

$A = $360 ($2,400 x 15%)

$B = $300 ($2,700 – $2,400)

As $A is equal to or greater than $B, the variation is less than 15%.

If the notional assessment has:

• changed by more than 15% between the previous and new notional assessments and
• the change was due to circumstances not contemplated by the agreement, and
• a party to the agreement has made a written request to end the limited agreement within the allowable timeframe, then

terminate the agreement 28 days after date of receipt of the written request to terminate the agreement.

Note: if a customer’s circumstances have changed significantly and the latest notional assessment issued more than 60 days ago, or 90 days if a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction, a customer can request a new provisional notional assessment. For more information about notional assessments, see Notional assessment relating to child support agreements.

For an example of the process for terminating a limited agreement due to the notional assessment changing by more than 15%, see Summary of typical processes for electing to terminate a limited agreement

Go to Step 8

If a new agreement refers to a date to end the current agreement, use the date provided by the customers.

If the new agreement does not specify an end date for the current agreement, or the application to accept the new agreement was made more than 28 days after it was signed, use the date before the date the new agreement takes effect.

Note: If the new agreement is a limited agreement, the annual rate payable under the new agreement must be equal or greater to the annual rate payable under the current agreement. For more information on comparison of annual rates, see Table 4 in Assessing a new Child Support agreement,

If the new agreement does not meet the requirements as set out in Assessing a new Child Support agreement, then the new agreement cannot be accepted and the current agreement will not end. The customers could consider first making an agreement to terminate the current agreement, then apply to have a new agreement accepted.

Go to Step 8

Where a court order sets aside an agreement, the agreement is terminated on the day the court order states it is to end.

Court Orders and accompanying documents are actioned by the Agreement and Court Order Team. The method of processing depends on the wording of the court order and the existing registrations on the case. If the court has set aside the agreement it also has discretion to make a departure order, see Court varied assessments (CVA) including lump sum orders.

Go to Step 8

When the limited agreement ends, child support will then become payable again under the administrative assessment. Make sure the assessment continues by checking that an assessment registration has been recorded and is active.

If the agreement replaced a Change of Assessment (COA) decision or court departure order (CVA), the departure decision will not be reinstated when the agreement ends and child support will be payable under the child support formula.

To make sure the formula applies, check that such a previous COA or CVA) registration does not have an end date that is later than the end date of the non-initiating agreement. If it does, update the end date of the COA or CVA registration to end on a date that is not later than the end date of the non-initiating agreement.

Go to Step 9

Contact customers to acknowledge and discuss:

• receipt of their child support agreement termination request
• the event that has triggered the agreement termination
• if a request to end a limited agreement (agreement over 3 years old or the notional assessment changes by more than 15%) is accepted, it will be terminated 28 days after Child Support received the written request
• what will happen after their agreement ends, that is, the case will be based on a formula assessment (unless there has been a section 12 terminating event, which will also end the assessment)
• if their formula assessment reflects their current circumstances
• any other identified issues
• the need to contact Centrelink if they receive an income tested payment

See Contact with Child Support customers. Inform customers of the factors considered in making the decision to end or terminate the agreement. If the agreement has not been ended then inform customers of the factors affecting that decision. Discuss appropriate options available to the customers.

Document all conversations on the Additional Registration window notepad. See Child Support Guide 2.7.5: Changing or terminating a child support agreement.

Go to Step 10

Consider all relevant information and decide whether the agreement should be ended from a particular date or not ended.

Document the reasons for your decision and reference the legislation used to make your decision in the Case window.

The decision to end an agreement must be authorised by a Service Officer (SO4) or above.

Go to Step 11

Run eligibility before keying the agreement termination. Resolve any issues before saving. See Eligibility Cuba Process Help.

Key the Agreement termination. To process a termination, go to Agreements Cuba process help.

Run eligibility to give effect to the decision. Cuba will propose either accept or refuse the agreement end, based on the information entered.

Review and address the pre-confirmation results and do not save eligibility until every issue is corrected. Identify any unintended results. For example, changing earlier assessments in the main or reverse case, or failing to properly revert to an ongoing assessment (if applicable) in the main or reverse case.

Do not save eligibility until the reason for any unexpected results has been determined and the correct outcome decided.

For assistance with reading the results, see the Eligibility window help and if necessary seek assistance from a Service Support Officer (SSO).

See Table 4

Contact customers by telephone to explain the decision and advise of the effect on the child support assessment. Inform them that letters will be issued to reflect the changes and will contain information on their objection rights.

Sometimes, the request to terminate an agreement is made by a solicitor on behalf of their client. The solicitor may also request to be notified in writing of the decision to terminate the agreement. This does not breach the customer’s privacy as the solicitor is acting for the customer who sought termination of the agreement.

Note: send the solicitor a copy of the agreement decision letter. A unique letter is not required.

Once the decision has been processed, Cuba may automatically generate letters from the following:

• MAC1-4 Change to Annual Rate
• CS2 Agreement Assessment Notice
• DS2 Notice of Notional Assessment
• MEA1-2 Payee - We have accepted the application to end the assessment
• MEA1-3 Payer - We have accepted the application to end the assessment
• MEA1-7 Application to end agreement rejected (both)
• MEA1-8 Agreed Lump Sum Payments
• MEA3-1 Lump Sum Credited in full letter (both)
• REG8-1 Provisional/Notional Assessment Covering letter (both)
• REG5-1 A letter to a Payee to advise that application to register agreement has been accepted
• REG5-2 A letter to a Payer to advise that application to register agreement has been accepted
• REG5A-1 A letter to a Payee to advise that stage 2 application to register agreement rejected
• REG5A-2 A letter to a Payer to advise that stage 2 application to register agreement rejected

Review the keyed letters for correctness before they are sent out overnight through Cuba. See Letters Cuba process help.

Note: Unique Letters may be required

Cuba may not automatically generate appropriate letters to explain that the Agreement has ended. If appropriate letters do not issue, send an MX0-2 Unique letter with assessment to each party to the agreement. Use the pre-approved letter text UQ120.09 Agreement termination for reason other than care.