Aartsen and Tedrick (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by Aartsen against a child support administrative assessment made by the Registrar. The dispute centred on the Registrar's decision to accept an estimate of Tedrick's income for the purposes of calculating child support, rather than refusing the estimate and potentially making a departure from the assessment. Aartsen contended that the estimate should have been refused.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Registrar had erred in accepting the estimate of Tedrick's income. This required the court to consider the criteria for accepting or refusing an estimate of income under the relevant child support legislation and the principles governing administrative decision-making in this context.

The court affirmed the Registrar's decision, finding that the Registrar had properly exercised their discretion. The reasoning applied was that the Registrar had sufficient information before them to form a reasonable estimate of Tedrick's income, and there was no basis to conclude that the estimate was unreasonable or that the Registrar had failed to consider relevant factors. The court applied the principles that an estimate should be accepted where it is based on available information and that the onus is on the party challenging the estimate to demonstrate its unreasonableness.

The appeal was dismissed, and the child support assessment as made by the Registrar was affirmed.