WA ex-nuptial child support cases - Ending a Child Support assessment 277-18061529

Section 151A of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1988 applies to a person who is considered to be entitled to FTB at more than the base rate even though they may not be receiving their full entitlement by instalments. A person can choose to receive less than their fortnightly entitlement by taking up an option under More Choice For Families. The person is choosing to receive a notional entitlement as opposed to their legislative entitlement. The decision about whether they are receiving more than the base rate for the purpose of subsection 151A should be based on their legislative entitlement.

A blended family is a couple with more than one child in their care, where:

• one child is from a previous relationship of one member of the couple, and
• another child is from the current relationship, or from the previous relationship of the other member of the couple

Members of a blended family may choose for one person to claim FTB or for each member of the couple to claim and receive a nominated percentage of the family's FTB entitlement. Therefore, the situation may arise where the partner of the payee is receiving FTB in respect of the child support child.

Section 151A applies to payees where their current partner is receiving more than the base rate FTB for the child. This is because the maintenance action test (MAT) applies to both the FTB recipient and their partner (that is, the case ending may cause FTB recipient to fail the MAT). If the customer wants more information, warm transfer them to Centrelink on 136 150.