Terminating events (Stage 2) 277-03140000

A customer or a third party may advise of a terminating event verbally, electronically or in writing. The following terminating events will cause a case to end:

• A child marries or becomes a member of a couple
• A child is adopted
• A child turns 18 (or if the assessment has been extended beyond age 18 to the end of a school year, when the school year or the child’s studies finish)
• The payee, payer or child is deceased, see Deceased Child Support customer management
• Both parents of a child cease to be eligible carers and there are no non-parent carers entitled to be paid child support in relation to the child. See Change in child support care levels from 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA Ex-nuptial cases) for examples of a change in care that could be classed as a terminating event
• All persons who were eligible carers of the child cease to be eligible carers and a parent who would have becomes an eligible carer does not because Child Support was not advised of the change in care within 26 weeks
• A child becomes covered by child welfare law in SA or WA
• A child is not present in Australia, is not an Australian citizen and is not ordinarily a resident of Australia and the payee is not a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction
• A child’s parents become members of the same couple for a period of 6 months or more
• A carer entitled to receive child support makes an election to end an assessment for the child from a specified day
• A party to a child support agreement that initiated the child support case under section 93 makes an election in a day that their agreement is suspended, to end an assessment for the child from a specific day
• An agreement accepted between the carer and the liable parent, in relation to the child, that the liability to pay child support would cease on a specified day
• A payer ceases to be a resident of Australia (and is not subject to an international maintenance arrangement)
• An international maintenance arrangement applies, the payer ceases to be a resident of any reciprocating jurisdiction and does not become a resident of Australia
• Both the payer and payee cease to be resident of Australia (Section 12(4B))

For more information on individual terminating events, see Types of Terminating events.

If the terminating event involves a deceased customer, see Deceased Child Support customer management.

Resources page of Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010) has examples of changes in care that result in a terminating event.

Change of Assessment (COA) application in progress

If there is an application for a COA in progress, explain the following to the customer:

• The terminating event may affect whether the COA application can still proceed
• The COA Decision Maker (DM) will be made aware of this possible terminating event
• After a decision is made on whether a terminating event has occurred, the COA DM may need to discuss any effect this has on the COA application

Manage customer expectations around timeframe for any call back from the COA DM. This is due to the DM not being able to determine whether the COA application will proceed until the terminating event decision has been finalised. As an indication, use the response timeframe of 7 days for a Contracted DM and 2 days for an Internal DM.

Raise a COA Call Back Required intray (2 days) and route as appropriate to the COA team. The intray alerts the COA DM that a possible terminating event has been notified and a terminating event decision is being considered. Note: this intray must be sent regardless of whether the possible terminating event was notified before or after the COA application was made.

See Table 2 in Change of assessment enquiries.

Assessment is based on a child support agreement

If a terminating event occurs and the assessment is based on a child support agreement, transfer the customer to the Agreements and Court Orders team. The Agreement and Court Order team will discuss the impact of the terminating event on the agreement.

When Child Support becomes aware of a terminating event, the event must be confirmed. When confirming a terminating event determine the following:

• If a terminating event has taken place
• The date the terminating event took place

Proof of a terminating event can include but is not limited to:

• A child marries or becomes a member of a couple and:
• the payee and payer agree that this has occurred
• a tenancy agreement for the child’s residence shows they are a joint tenant with their partner
• a court declares the child is a member of a couple
• A child is adopted and an adoption order made by a court (or in some states a relevant state authority) is sighted
• The parents agree that the care has changed, or a care decision has been made, which results in a person no longer being an eligible carer
  Resources page of Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010) has examples of a change in care that could be classed as a terminating event
• A payee ceases to be an eligible carer of a child and confirmation from both customers of the event is received, That is, change in care
• A court order showing that the child is covered under a child welfare law (only some States and Territories)
• A child’s parents confirm they have been members of the same couple for a period of 6 months or more
• A carer entitled to receive child support makes an election to end an assessment for a child from a specified day (section 151 request)
• A party to a child support agreement that initiated the child support case under section 93 makes an election, on a day that their agreement is suspended, to end an assessment for the child from a specified day (section 151 request)
• An agreement has been accepted between the carer and the liable parent, in relation to a child, that the liability to pay child support would cease on a specified day
• A child is:
• Not present in Australia
• Not an Australian citizen and is not ordinarily a resident of Australia
• Payee is not a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction therefore a residency decision is required
  See Residency decisions for Child Support customers
• Information is received from the Department of Home Affairs to confirm that the child is not an Australian citizen and/or to confirm the date that the payee and/or child left Australia. A residency decision is required
  See Residency decisions for Child Support customers
• A payer ceases to be a resident of Australia or a reciprocating jurisdiction. A residency decision is required
  See Residency decisions for Child Support customers

If unsure of what documentation to seek if a terminating event cannot be confirmed as taken place, see a Service Support Officer (SSO) for advice.

If the terminating event will cause a case to end, check the payer’s employment status. To confirm if the employer relationship status is active, see Employer withholding (linking) Cuba Process Help.

The customer must be delinked if the case has an active employer relationship status and the:

• employer is deducting child support
• customer has no other case, and
• customer has no arrears

Do not end the employer link if the:

• employer is deducting child support
• customer has debt, and
• it is appropriate this collection option continues

Also check for any outstanding s72A notice that may need to be adjusted following the terminating event. See Collection of child support debts through third parties (s72A and s72C).

Document the reasons for any decision and reference the legislation used to make that decision.

Check the case for any issues that are not finalised, e.g. Non-agency payment (NAP), estimates and agreements and then process accordingly. If any of the assessments are based either on a provisional income or an estimate of income, update the provisional incomes and review any estimates of income where possible.

Advise the customer that regardless of the fact that the case is ending, the provisional income will be replaced when a taxable income becomes available or Child Support may review/reconcile an estimate. This may result in arrears or an overpayment. See Income Processing for Child Support customers.

Note: estimates are automatically reconciled when customer’s income tax assessment is issued for the relevant year. Encourage customers to lodge tax returns on time each year because it means that their estimates will be reconciled promptly.

Change of Assessment (COA) application progress

If there is an application for a Change of Assessment (COA) in progress, check the date to see when the COA application was made.

If the COA was lodged before the date of notification of the terminating event, the COA application may still be valid

The applicant will need to be asked if they wish to proceed with the COA, and explain they should discuss this with the Decision Maker (DM). Advise them the DM will need to make a decision on whether the COA application is valid/invalid, due to the terminating event.

Manage customer expectations around the timeframe for a decision on whether the COA can still proceed, including the response timeframe of 7 days for a Contracted DM and 2 days for an Internal DM.

If the COA was lodged after the date of notification of the terminating event, the COA application may not be valid

Explain to the customer, the DM will need to make a decision on whether the COA application is valid/invalid, due to the terminating event.

Manage customer expectations around timeframe for a decision on whether the COA can still proceed, including the response timeframe of 7 days for a Contracted Decision Maker and 2 days for an Internal Decision Maker.

Raise a COA Call Back Required intray (2 days) and route as appropriate to COA team. The intray alert the COA DM the terminating event decision has been finalised.

Note: this intray must be sent regardless of whether the terminating event was notified before or after the COA application was made. Table 9, Step 8 in Manage a change of assessment application .

Assessment is based on a child support agreement

If the assessment is based on a child support agreement, explain to the customer that if they re-apply for a child support assessment in the future, their agreement may still apply. This will depend on the type of terminating event, the terms of the agreement and the types of provisions in the agreement. Transfer the customer to the Agreements and Court Orders team to discuss the impact of the terminating event on the agreement.

Proceed to the appropriate processing step. For:

• child terminating event, go to Step 2
• eligible carer and care date of effect terminating event, go to Step 3
• residency terminating event, go to Step 4
• dual liability terminating event, go to Step 5
• suspension of liability on reconciliation terminating event, go to Step 6
• section 151 election, go to Step 7
• agreement to end liability, go to Step 8
• non-parent carer cases, go to Step 9

Document the reasons for any decision and reference the legislation used to make that decision.

Where a child:

• turns 18, Cuba will automatically amend the child support assessment by removing the child, unless an application for an extension after the age of 18 has been accepted. See Eighteen year old children extending a child support assessment
• becomes a member of a couple, update the child’s details to reflect their new marital status, that is, married, defacto from the Client Details window. See Customer record Cuba Process Help
• has been adopted, update the Child Details section of the Case/Registration window with the date the child was adopted

A child welfare order means a child is no longer an eligible child, record the Welfare Order on the Relationship window. See Relationship Cuba Process Help.

Document the terminating event, any customer contact and all relevant information on a notepad in the Case/Registration window.

When a customer is no longer an eligible carer, update the child(s) current care arrangements in the Care window. See Care Cuba Processing Help.

Document the terminating event, any customer contact and all relevant information in a notepad on the Case/Registration window.

If the assessment is terminated because Child Support was advised of a care change that occurred more than 26 weeks ago, the customer will need to reapply if they want to be assessed for child support. Customers can apply to restart their assessment from when Child Support is notified of a care change. They do not need to wait until the care determination is final.

When running eligibility the pre-confirmation warning Terminating event, should case be restarted? Is child in pye/pyr care? Prompts Service Officers to:

• Identify if a customer has reapplied, or
• Contact the customer to ask if they would like to reapply

In this scenario, the restart will be actioned by the owning area without the need to refer to New Customers, once the care change is finalised.

See Notification of change in child support care from 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA Ex-nuptial cases) for changes in care that result in a terminating event.

Update the customer or child details on the Client Residency window accessed via the Client Details window. See Customer record Cuba Process Help.

Document the terminating event, any customer contact and all relevant information on a notepad on the Case window.

For more details, see Residency decisions for Child Support customers.

If a second liability is registered for the same payee, payer and child, end the first liability the day before the second liability was registered. See Assessments Cuba Process Help for more detail.

E.g., a case is registered on 1 October 2008. The payee moves overseas 1 March 2009 to reside in a reciprocating jurisdiction. The payer remains living in Australia. While there, the payee obtains a court order which sets the amount the payer is assessed to pay effective 1 May 2009. The payee submits the court order to Child Support and asks that it be enforced. The first liability must be ended on 30 April 2009 before registering the court order to be effective from 1 May 2009 to avoid a dual liability.

Document the terminating event, any customer contact and all relevant information in a notepad on the Case window.

When Child Support becomes aware parents have reconciled, the parents' child support assessment will be suspended. See Suspension of child support liability on reconciliation.

If parents remain reconciled for 6 months, a terminating event occurs on the last day of the 6 month period (e.g., reconciliation period commences 10 January, the end case date is 9 July not 10 July) and their child support case will end. See Assessment Cuba Process Help for more detail.

Document the terminating event, any customer contact and all relevant information in a notepad on the Case window.

A section 151 election to end an assessment can be made by:

• the carer entitled to child support, or
• any party to a child support agreement, if the agreement initiated the child support case and the agreement is currently suspended
  See Ending a Child Support assessment for more detail

From 1 July 2018 Centrelink approval is not required to accept an election to end an assessment.

See Ending a Child Support assessment if no terminating event has occurred and the customer is making a s151 election to end their child support assessment.

If an agreement is accepted that specifies a date the liability will cease, a terminating event will occur from the specific day. The specified day must be a future date. See Assessing a new Child Support agreement and Assessments Cuba Process Help.

Document the terminating event, any customer contact and all relevant information in a notepad on the Case window.

A non-parent carer who applies for child support before 1 July 2008 has the option of applying against 1 or both parents. If a non-parent carer applies for child support after 1 July 2008, they must apply against both parents unless special circumstances are found to exist, 1 parent is deceased, or 1 parent is a resident of a non-reciprocating jurisdiction.

Once the information has been input, Cuba will automatically select the appropriate post 1 July 2008 formula to apply to the case. It will also update the non-parent carer’s application against 1 or both parents. The details of the non-parent carer's application are updated via the Relationship window. The types of changes that must be updated on non-parent carer cases include some terminating events, residency changes, special circumstances applications, new non-parent applications or updating a current non-parent case.

For more information, see Application for assessment - non-parent carer.

Run Eligibility to give effect to the terminating event. If Cuba is making unexpected changes, do not save eligibility until these have been corrected. See the Eligibility Window Help. If the Eligibility changes cannot be corrected or they cannot be confirmed as being accurate, seek SSO support.

Note: terminating events relating to children can cause role reversals. If the Pre-confirmation Results window shows that the change will create or affect a reverse case, see Managing reverse child support cases.

If the terminating event was due to:

• a child marrying or becoming a member of a couple
• a child being adopted
• a child turning 18
• a child no longer present in Australia, not an Australian citizen and is not ordinarily a resident of Australia and is not a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction
• both parents of a child ceasing to be eligible carers and no non-parent carer was entitled to be paid child support in relation to the child
• all eligible carers of a child cease to be eligible carers and the other parent does not become an eligible carer because Child Support was notified of the care change more than 26 weeks after it occurred a payee ceasing to be an eligible carer
• a child becomes covered by child welfare law in SA or WA
• a payer not being a resident of Australia and is not a resident of an international reciprocating jurisdiction

Cuba will automatically generate the following letters:

• MEA1-4 - Letter to a payee to advise that a terminating event has occurred
• MEA1-5 - Letter to a payer to advise that a terminating event has occurred

Sometimes the system:

• suppresses the Cuba letters, and
• issues a NOA-01 CS Notice of Assessment and Covering page consolidating the decision letters. Consider when NOA-01 letters issue

If the assessment for a child/case ended because Child Support was not notified of a care change within 26 weeks, check the care notepad to see if the parties have been asked if they would like to apply for a new assessment. If any parent or non-parent carer has indicated they did wish to apply for a new assessment, restart the case from the date of that conversation with the customer.

If the customers have not been asked if they wish to apply for a new assessment contact, contact the customer who now has care of the child to ask if they would like to restart their case.

There may be FTB implications if a mutual FTB/CS customer does not take action to have a child support case.

Disregard any unallocated NAP remaining on a case following a terminating event.

If a new child support assessment is accepted, any disregarded NAP will not apply to a new case.

This is because a NAP amount paid within one enforceable period cannot be applied to future amounts that become payable in a different child support enforcement period.

To disregard an unallocated NAP, see Table 13 in Non-agency payment (NAP).

If the case ends and arrears remain that have not been discussed, contact the payee to ask if they wish for the arrears to be collected. If the customer does not want the arrears collected, see Collecting child support payments privately and/or discharge arrears. If arrears are to be collected, arrange with the payer for payment to commence/continue. See Debt repayment.

Note: if the payee wants the arrears collected and the payer now resides overseas, transfer the to the International teams. See Updating Child Support customer information.