MOTHER SEEKS COURT ORDER FOR HUSBAND WHO HAS NOT SEEN THE CHILD IN 7 YEARS TO PAY ADULT CHILD MAINTENANCE.
Harold & Raymond [2021] FCCA 644 (22 March 2021)
This is an application filed by the mother for adult child maintenance where Father has not seen the child in 7 years.
Facts:
This is the Mother’s Application that the Father pay adult child maintenance for the parties’ 18 year old son Mr B born in 2002 (“Mr B”).
The Mother is currently unemployed. It would appear she has not been engaged in any form of consistent full-time employment since Mr B’s birth. The Father is a professional who runs his own practice.
Very sadly, Mr B and the Father do not have a relationship. They have not seen each other for seven or eight years. When Mr B was 15, orders were made pursuant to an application brought on behalf of Mr B that enabled him to change his name to Mr B, removing his Father’s surname and his middle name which was that of his paternal grandfather.
The Father’s obligations to pay child support under the Assessment Act and the orders of the Federal Circuit Court ceased on Mr B’s 18th birthday in 2020.
Having completed his Victorian Certificate of Education last year, Mr B was successful in obtaining a place at the C University doing a Bachelors degree. It is the Mother’s evidence this course is extremely difficult to gain entry to and it is not available other than through C University.
The Mother sought the matter be listed urgently and it therefore came before the Registrar. The Father seeks the Mother’s Application be dismissed.
Issue: Should the father pay adult child maintenance?
Law:
Analysis:
The court is satisfied that the provision of maintenance is necessary to enable Mr B to undertake his undergraduate tertiary education.
The course he has chosen is best undertaken at C University which means he needs to live in Canberra away from his home during the university year.
Whilst Mr B should and can obtain employment to contribute to his support and education, and, to his credit, has already done so, his is in a full time course in which he hopes to excel. He therefore cannot meet the totality of the costs necessary to enable him to complete his education.
Conclusion: The Father shall pay for the maintenance of the adult child Mr B born in 2002 (“Mr B”) the sum of $225.00 per week from 18 February 2021 until Mr B completes his full-time undergraduate studies at C University (“the adult child maintenance”).
