Child Support Payments & DPB

Am hoping I can glean a bit of knowledge from your experiences...

I've done a bit of research online but seem to go around in circles a bit, so went to ring the WINZ contact centre and missed closing by 2mins...

But anyways... bare with me until I get to my question - think I need to give a bit of background first:

I'm 36 and a bit weeks pregnant - this baby was a bit of a whoopsie with a bloke I had a brief fling with, so his participation as a parent is likely to be minimal. He has taken a wee while to come around to the idea that he's going to be a father (something he never really wanted to be apparently) so for him to make me an offer today of voluntary Child Support payments was pretty big. Actually, when I first told him I was pregnant he went away and came back a few days later saying "I can't afford the $XXX for Child Support!!" (he'd looked it up on the IRD site and saw how much he'd be income tested for) so we discussed coming to our own arrangement.

Of course at that stage I was all rather naive myself and wanted to have this baby without relying on the DPB etc... I have since realised that I really won't be able to do that as I'll have no income once my PPL runs out after 14 weeks. The only thing is, from what I've read, to get the benefit I am obligated to seek Child Support... and if we were to have a voluntary agreement, this would need to be equal to or more than what the IRD would set... have I got that right?

I mean, I want to keep things amicable between us but what the baby's father is offering just wouldn't meet those requirements. I know I need to put baby's needs top priority but I don't want to screw this guy over either (I mean, it was my decision to have this child, he wanted me to terminate originally)... argh... this is bloody tough.

So I guess my question's this: what's the deal with going on the DPB and child support payments and how do voluntary payments as opposed to IRD set payments come in to it?

Sorry, I'm on DPB but had to do child support the tough way *eye roll* but I think you can organise with winz & ird when you go in to fill out your dpb forms about private arrangements. aslong as you tell winz how much u'll get each week etc they'll ajust your dpb payments to suit.

i may be wrong tho. give the winz call centre a buzz. they shud be able to answer ya question

sorry probly not much help

Well I'm coming at it from another angle which you can choose to totally ignore but here it is - are you sure you want him on the birth cert to start with?? You won't be entitled to any child support but in the long-run it could make things sooooo much easier!!!! I really wish Jake bio dad wasn't on the birth cert and the people I know in RL in that kind of situation are the same. It doesn't mean he can't be part of Joshuas life, it just means he has no say. What happens if later on down the track you want to move and he turns into a moron and takes it to court? Or you meet a guy whos awesome and wants to be Joshuas full-time dad but he can;t adopt him coz sperm donor packs a tanty?? We've run into both those situations and its immensely frustrating!! JM2CW

My mum wish she'd left my dad off too, they may still have a relationship later, and it's not like you're saying he's not the father of anything but if he didn't want anything to do with it in the start then maybe it's best to leave him off?

i have no idea but just wanted to say good luck! and ims ure that if you explained it, they would just drop your dpb by the amount the is giving you?

Sorry hun but yeah if you acknowledge him and you're on the DPB it has to go through IRD - thats how it was for me. Sucks ae?!
Good luck with everything!!

They have changed the law around the whole dad signing the birth certificate thing . These days  its VERY VERY VERY hard not to have the father on the cert . I have only just received dd's birth cert today actually , that is 11 1/2months after she was born all because her father has not signed . on her birth cert it says : father: not recorded . I was very much wanting him to be on it before i had her as i just couldnt bear the thoguht of it saying father: unknown, esspecialy as we were in a relationship and i knew exactly who he was , but after the last year of having zero support from him ( emotionally or financially) and him sporadically turning up when he wants to see her ( about 6 times since she was born) , as well as constant txt abuse/ trying to hit on me ( hes got bi-polar) i am actually quite happy hes not on it , i now feel free from him and i dont feel that i have to let him into her life at all , i will tell her about him when shes older but at the moment hes not the type of guy i want in her life so i feel that i am helping her rather than hindering her with him being left off it .

Iv sent you a pm Angiebabie , by the sounds of it your bubbas daddy is alot more mature than mine so it is probably a good idea for him to be on the birth cert esspecialy if hes going to be a part of bubs life . You will get through , i was on the DPB for about 7months and it was very hard financialy but you get through, now that im back at work its a bit easier ( financialy) and im also lucky enough to have found a great guy who is 10times the man that dd birth father is ( also the reason i went off DPB ,even tho we arent living together if you are in a relationship and that person is staying over more than 3 times a week then that is seen to be a relationship and you need to go off the dpb , kind of sucks because my partner doesnt earn alot - less than me , but is worth going off the DPB because i would of hated to get reviewed or anything) .

 

I also see that you are very hesitant on being on the DPB , i was exactly the same , i tried every other way to survive but in the end i did need to go on it , i look at it this way: i have been a tax payer since starting to work at age 16 , i have bever been on a benefit before , i am now raising a child alone and need a hand up , not a hand out,  I have returned to work now ( personal choice) . i am very thankful NZ has a system like this in which there is such thing as the DPB , what i dont like tho is people who use the system , i know so many people that are with the fathers of their babies , daddys working fulltime and mum collecting the full dpb illeagaly, it happens so much , i could literally count 5 people off the top of my head i know that do this . This is what really erks me, its just not fair on the ones that are using it ligitimatly and finding it very hard to survive .

sorry i really didnt mean to turn  YOUR forrum into a me, me , me rant lol , i just see alot of similarities in our situations . I do wish you the best of luck with the whole situation

Edited by julz

I haven't read anyones answers (sorry).

But the only way you can come to a personal agreement is while on the DPB is to have the agreement written out. And any money he gives you will be counted as income for you and so it'll be deducted from your benefit.

The personal agreement has to be monitary.

WINZ has become "wise" to those out there who were scamming the benefit.

If you do it through a normal child support agreement (which I recommend anyway) then IRD takes the money from his wages, he has no say in the matter but you don't get a cent of it. It goes to the government to "repay" them for paying you the DPB.

I recommend doing it the "normal" way cause then IRD have to chase him if he misses payments, not you

Also, as an aside note, I would seriously consider getting a parenting agreement sorted between the two of you. Even if it's just a nice "fluffy" one, at least there will be something in place if anything should arise where he decides he wants to have custody of baby or anything like that. (Seriously, you might not think it'll happen but kids change guys feelings about things and they'll do things you never thought they would/could do for their babies. I say this as someone who is currently going through this)

julz wrote: They have changed the law around the whole dad signing the birth certificate thing . These days  its VERY VERY VERY hard not to have the father on the cert .

I have been watching this thread with interest as I pretty much could have written this thread myself. The only difference is that the father is hostile to the point of poisonous and making my life hell - I have heard rumours that he will be moving overseas to Europe very shortly to escape child support but I haven't had this confirmed yet as I'm too scared to actually approach the bastard.

ANYWAY long story short, I am beginning to wonder whether it's worth my time chasing child support payments or the father to be on the birth certificate at all, and I've started considering just leaving him off entirely.

I was under the impression that to include him on the birth certificate he had to sign a form, which honestly I'm not sure if I will be able to get him to do. What do you mean it is hard not to have him on the birth certificate? I would have thought it would be easier than going through the rigmarole of getting him to sign the form?

Sorry for hijacking this thread but it probably makes sense to use this one rather than make another

After applying for the DPB they made me fill out the Child Support Payment form I didnt want to but pretty much had no choice.

You can always look for a part time job after your little one is older I am looking for a part time job and going to uni next year, I just cant sit an do nothing so becoming a Midwife is my goal :)

I hope it all goes well for you in the future.