Whether you decide to make your child support agreement official in a Binding Child Support Agreement, a Limited Child Support Agreement, or a Parenting Plan, it’s a good idea to turn your mind to potential and reasonably foreseeable what-if scenarios.
A discussion about these what-if scenarios before documenting your child support agreement can be constructive. You and your partner can reality check one another and get some clarity around one another’s expectations if a what-if scenario were to arise, but before it happens.
What-if scenarios
Below is a list of just a few what-if scenarios for you to consider.
- If war breaks out
- Your child’s care arrangements change
- You experience job loss
- There’s an increase or reduction in your income due to the job market, your actions, or your inaction
- The impact that a natural disaster/event or pandemic has on income or your circumstances
- You experience illness, injury, or a disability
- One of you have another child or become financially responsible for another person (eg. Elderly parent, a child from a previous relationship, a close relative, a step-child, new partner)
- You re-partner to someone who is extremely wealthy (that is, a discussion around expectations of that new partner to financially contribute or support your child)
- You relocate interstate or overseas
- Your child experiences a disability, illness, or injury, whereby they have a need for increased financial support
How your child support agreement could deal with the what-if
You might decide you don’t want your child support agreement to deal with the what-if scenario. If you speak with a lawyer, they’ll talk to you about the pros and cons of including or excluding certain what-if scenarios.
Alternatively, you might prefer for your child support agreement to detail what’s to happen if a what-if scenario were to arise, or simply that if a what-if scenario were to arise, that you and your partner must participate in child support mediation to discuss and agree what will happen moving forward. This can add additional complexity and cost to your agreement—a short term upfront cost for a long term gain.
It’s fair to say that the more certainty and clarity you can introduce into your child support agreement now, the potentially better your parenting relationship.