Byers and Kaldor (Child support)

The matter of *Byers and Kaldor* concerned an appeal to the Child Support Appeals Tribunal regarding the identification of a child support terminating event. The appellant, Ms Byers, sought to have the child support assessment extended beyond the child's 18th birthday. The respondent, Mr Kaldor, was the other party to the child support assessment.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the child support assessment had terminated, and if not, when the terminating event would occur. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider the effect of a previous acceptance of an application to extend the assessment past the child's 18th birthday and whether this prevented the determination of a future terminating event.

The Tribunal reasoned that a child support terminating event, such as a child turning 18, is a future event whose precise date is generally ascertainable. However, in circumstances where an application to extend the assessment has been accepted, the date of termination becomes uncertain and cannot be definitively determined in advance. The Tribunal found that the previous decision to accept the extension application meant that the date of the terminating event was not yet fixed, and therefore, the original assessment had not terminated. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the previous decision and remitted the matter back for reconsideration.