Section 143 order received by Child Support 277-05020020

Note: the authorisation for actioning s143 applications should be at the SO4 delegation.

If a court grants a declaration under s107, the court must also consider whether to make an order that all or part of the amount paid by the payer be repaid. The payer can then register the s143 - parentage overpayment order with Child Support for collection.

From 1 July 2018 amendments have been made to allow more types of recovery orders to be registered:

• As well as recovery orders made if a s107 order has been made, Child Support may now register for collection recovery orders made if a s106A order has been overturned. (A 106A order is a declaration that a person should be assessed in respect of the costs of a child)
• Recovery orders made with respect to amounts under a registered maintenance liability that were Child Support collect and were overpaid because of a variation that resulted in the case being cancelled or a child being removed from the case from the start date of the liability
• Recovery orders made other than in response to a s107, cannot be registered unless the order was made under the amended s143 – post 1 July 2018. A court cannot make an order under the amended s143 unless a decision is made after 1 July 2018 that a payer is not liable to pay an amount or a registered maintenance liability should never have existed

The parties must notify Child Support (in writing or verbally) of the orders made within 14 days of the order being made. The exception is if the new payee named in the order (previously the payer) has already notified Child Support that they do not want to have the payments collected. See the Child Support Guide 3.3.1: Notification of court orders and court registered agreements .

Note: the new payee (previously the payer) may have held the s143 order for some time before deciding to register it. Establish (from both customers) if any payments have already been made prior to the registration with Child Support. Deduct any amounts paid from the liability that is being registered. See the Child Support Guide 3.3.1: Notification of court orders and court registered agreements.

For the purpose of administering the recovery order, the person named in the order:

• to receive payment (the previous child support payer) will be the payee
• to make payment (the previous payee) will be the payer

Before registering a recovery order contact the payee named in the order (the previous payer). During the discussion establish and advise:

• Child Support can register this liability and confirm if they want the liability collected (see the Child Support Guide 5.1.3: Date a liability first becomes enforceable)
• the payee must notify Child Support of what payments have been received privately if they request collection
• that the payer named in the order (previous payee) will be contacted and advised of the registration and to discuss collection (if payments are collectible)
• Child Support will collect any amounts that remain payable under the order after taking into account the amounts already received
• how they want payments to be disbursed to them
• it may be beneficial to contact Centrelink to discuss any FTB implications
• the requirements of both customers, and
• relevant support that can be provided by community service providers

Before registering a recovery order contact the payer named in the order (the previous payee). During the discussion establish and advise:

• Child Support are registering the liability under the order
• if the payee named in the order has elected for Child Support to collect payments on their behalf
• if any payments have been made and confirm the amounts
• how they would prefer to make payments - Employer Withholding (EW), BPAY ®, Mailpay (Cheque to the department), Billpay (Post Office). See Payment options for Child Support for assistance with these options
• it may be beneficial to contact Centrelink to discuss any FTB implications
• the requirements of both customers, and
• relevant support that can be provided by community service providers

If the payer is refusing to pay and/or the above payment options have been exhausted, consider collecting the payment via debt offset. TRIPs can be intercepted to collect arrears as a result of an overpayment order. However, where possible, this should be in addition to an ongoing collection arrangement via EW.

Note: Cuba cannot administer Centrelink deductions for s143 orders.

The following steps explain how to register the s143 court order.

Create a new case

To create a new case, create a new Involvement List record and record a new registration record. This process creates a new case number and identifies the reversal in roles for the purpose of the s143 order. Then use the Select Other Party button to add the payer covered by the order. The radio button in the 'For' group box should be set to Spousal/s143 and the rego type should be recorded as Court order/agr.

See also:

• 'Creating a new case' section in the Involvement List window help
• Add the details of the case, this includes completing the Service Options box window with the payee’s choice of collection, i.e. private collect or collect

For new cases, the case profile quadrant in the Service Options box defaults to ‘INEL/INACT’. Make a preliminary case profile assessment and record it in the Case Profile Quadrant. Completion of the Relationship and Compliance indicators at this stage is not mandatory. The indicators and case profile quadrant should be updated to the appropriate quadrant at the end of the registration process.

Collection Choice: for new cases the collection choice defaults to NO (private collect). Change this to YES if the payee wants Child Support to collect. If ‘save accept’ eligibility, without changing the collection choice, the case will be registered private collect. This means the case will have to be opted in later, which produces confusing multiple letters to the customers.

See Agreements Cuba Process Help to assist with completion of the relevant fields.

Check the s143 court order to determine the maintenance liability.

Some court orders stipulate the amount to be repaid and the frequency of the repayments. For example, 'The payer is to pay $40.00 per week for a period of 2 years from the date of the orders'. Record these details in the Periodic Amounts window. See Agreements Cuba Process Help.

There may be orders made where the court does not stipulate the frequency or the amount to be repaid e.g. an order may state all overpayments or all payments made to the custodial parent during the life of the case for child XX are to be repaid. These types of orders will need to be loaded as periodic amounts.

When completing the periodic amount, if the court order states the amount to be repaid then record that amount (assuming no payments have been made prior to registration) as a one off lump sum payment:

• the periodic amount will be the full lump sum amount repayable
• frequency as daily
• the start and the finish dates will be the same

If the s143 states ‘all overpayments’, calculate the amount to be repaid.

Once the Periodic Amount window has been completed, Save and accept the registration by running eligibility, see Eligibility Cuba Process Help Steps for viewing, pending and saving eligibility results, Step 7. For assistance with reading the results, see Eligibility window help.

Review the Pre-confirmation Results window prior to accepting or rejecting the application. If it is expected that the application will be accepted and Cuba determines that it should be rejected, note the reason for ineligibility then cancel the eligibility run. See Eligibility Cuba Process Help Steps for viewing, pending and saving eligibility results, Step 6.

If the application is ineligible or the applicant has chosen private collection, go to Step 9.

If the application is eligible and the payee has chosen collection go to Step 8.

Disbursement options

On the Bank details window, record the payee's preferred disbursement method - direct deposit into a bank account or cheque. Child Support prefers direct deposit as it reduces the risk of lost cheques and is cheaper to administer. Request bank account details if the payee chooses direct deposit. For assistance with recording the payee's preferred disbursement method, see Disbursement Cuba Process Help.

If the payee has an existing debt to the other party for other children (in the case where they are/were the payer), the liability arising from the registration of the s143 order is able to be offset against the previous debt. See Debt offset Cuba Process Help.

Payment options

Record on Cuba the payer’s preferred payment method including the payment frequency - employer withholding or manual payments direct to Child Support. See Accounting Cuba Process Help, Steps for recording a payment option.

For those payers who prefer to have employer deductions, establish employer withholding. See Employer Withholding (linking) for Child Support customers. Explain the delays in commencing deductions and the necessity to pay direct to Child Support in the interim.

Go to Step 9.

At present Cuba letters generate when a s143 order is registered. Use the UQ17.00 Overpayment order - S143 order letter and issue the manual letter to both customers.

Where the application is rejected, a REG 3A - 1 To payee Stage 1 ineligible application letter must be sent to the payee via Cuba. See Letters Cuba Process Help.