Ko wai ka taea te utu, te whiwhi rānei i te Takuhe Tiaki Tamariki? Can you get child support?

You can apply for child support if your child qualifies, at least 1 parent can be required to pay, and the child lives with 1 carer for at least 35% of the time.

Your child support will end if you, the child or the other parent no longer meet all the requirements.

The requirements on this page are only for voluntary agreements and formula assessments. If you have a private agreement, you and the other parent decide when and how much child support is paid even if you do not meet all these requirements. 

Minimum care requirements

To get child support under a formula assessments, your child needs to live with you for at least 35% of the time – that’s about 5 nights a fortnight or 128 nights a year.

You may also be able to get child support if your child is at boarding school and you pay the fees.  

There are no minimum care requirements for voluntary assessments.

Sharing care of children
Voluntary agreements 

Paying parent requirements

For a parent to be made liable for (required to pay) child support, they:

• must not be living with the child, or are sharing care of the child with someone else
• must not be in a relationship and living with the person they are paying child support to.

A parent can mean any of the following.

• They are named on the child's birth certificate as a parent.
• They legally adopted the child.
• They were married to the other parent when the child was conceived or born.
• They have acknowledged before a court, or in writing, that they are the child’s parent.
• The Family Court declared them a legal step-parent.
• A court declared them the child’s parent through a paternity order.

They must also be either:

• a New Zealand citizen or ordinarily resident – that is, living here as their main home
• resident in Australia or another country we have a child support agreement with (this only applies to formula assessments).

Find countries that have child support agreements with New Zealand

Child requirements

You can apply for child support if your child meets all these requirements.

Under 18

They must be under 18. Or, if they’re 18, they still need to be enrolled at and attending a registered school in New Zealand or an overseas school. In this case, child support ends on 31 December of the year they turn 18.

Unmarried

They must not be married, living with their partner in a marriage-like relationship or civil union.

Depend on you financially

This means they are either under 16, or if they’re 16 or older, they work less than 30 hours a week on average. They also must not be receiving a student allowance or main benefit (like the Jobseeker benefit).

New Zealanders

They must be New Zealand citizens or ordinarily resident in New Zealand.

Check if you are a citizen (govt.nz)
Tax residency status for individuals

Applying for child support

If you meet the requirements, you can apply for a formula assessment or register a voluntary agreement you've made with the other parent.

Apply for child support - formula assessment
Register a voluntary agreement