Whakaaetanga tūmataiti Private agreements

With a private agreement, you sort out your own child support payments without us being involved. This is the most flexible type of child support and the easiest to set up.

How they work

Parents agree on how to cover the costs of raising children. One parent pays the other directly, or might pay expenses on the other parent’s behalf – like rent, childcare or the power bill. People often set up automatic payments to make payments easy.

If your circumstances change, you can talk to the other parent about changing payments too.

Who can use them

Most people can set up their own private agreement. They’re a good choice if you:

• can agree on who should pay and how much
• want to organise payments yourself
• can rely on payments being made
• want to be flexible and able to update your agreement as things change.

No private agreements for Unsupported Child’s Benefit

If you get the Unsupported Child's Benefit, you must apply for a formula assessment for that child or those children. Any child support paid will go to the government to help cover the benefit.

You can still set up a private agreement for your other children, even if you get a sole parent rate of benefit. Talk to Work and Income about what you need to do.

Formula assessment
Child support when on a benefit – workandincome.govt.nz

If you get Working for Families

If you get any Working for Families payments, you'll need to tell us about:

• your private child support payments
• any expenses paid on your behalf
• any expenses you paid on someone else's behalf.

We include the child support and expenses as income when we work out your Working for Families payments.

Working for Families

Working out how much to pay

If you'd like help agreeing on an amount, you can use our child support payment calculator to work out what you could pay or receive with a formula assessment.

Child support payment calculator

Changing to a private agreement

It’s important to cancel any voluntary agreement or formula assessment before you begin paying privately. The receiving carer can also choose to write off any overdue child support owed through us.

Cancel your child support
Write off child support owed to you

If your arrangement stops working

If your private agreement is not working out for any reason, talk to the other parent straight away. If you need help sorting out any issues, you can contact your lawyer, community law centre or Citizens Advice Bureau.

Private arrangements are still the most flexible option for child support, but you can apply for a voluntary agreement or formula assessment at any time. Get in touch with us to talk about your options.

Voluntary agreement
Formula assessment