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Action required when Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customer no longer entitled to child support 277-51130030



This document outlines the procedure to follow when a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customer loses their entitlement to child support for a child. It explains that the customer no longer needs to take action to obtain child support to receive more than the base rate of Part A for the child.

Reasons for loss of child support entitlement

The circumstances where a customer can lose entitlement for child support include:

  • A child support terminating event has occurred. Child Support will end the child support case for the child from the date the event occurred. Common terminating events are:
    • Child leaves the customer's care
    • FTB customer's percentage of care of a child falls below 35%
    • Child dies, is adopted or becomes a member of a couple
    • Paying parent dies
    • Child turns 18 and they are no longer in full-time secondary study
    • Child aged 18 or over in full-time secondary study reaches the last day of secondary school in the year they turn 18
  • An objection to the child support assessment is successful in relation to a terminating event
  • The paying parent successfully applies to a court for a declaration that they are not a parent of the child
  • A customer reconciling or commencing a de facto relationship with the child's other parent is not a terminating event for child support until the parents are reconciled or in a relationship for 6 months or more. Prior to the 6 month mark, customers have the choice of suspending their child support case or ending the case

Voluntary end to child support assessment

There are other circumstances under which the customer may voluntarily end a child support assessment.

An assessment may also be ended by Child Support if the child support case commenced in error, for example an assessment commenced without sufficient proof of parentage for the payer or due to administration error.

Child support processing is mostly automated upon recording the change in circumstance. However, child support action and maintenance income details should be checked to ensure they are correct.

Customers will need to contact Child Support if they wish to vary or end a child support assessment or to cease collection of child support.

If the customer has a court order or court registered agreement for child support, they may need to seek legal advice about changing it to reflect their new circumstances.

The Resources page contains information relating to a shared care system problem (P24845) that occurs when a parent has transferred their FTB to their current partner (step parent).

Child leaves customer's care/custody

Death of a family assistance or Paid Parental Leave Pay scheme child

Effect on Family Tax Benefit (FTB) where the customer elects to suspend or end a child support assessment

How to group children on a customer's Family Tax Benefit (FTB) record

Linking and unlinking a child support paying parent

Maintenance Action Test (MAT) codes

Recording private maintenance income on Centrelink systems

Deceased Child Support customer management