Derricks and Derricks (Child support)

The case of *Derricks and Derricks (Child support)* concerned a dispute between the parties regarding the crediting of non-agency payments made by the father. The father sought to have certain payments made directly to third parties and to the mother credited against his child support liability. The matter came before the Child Support Registrar for review.

The primary legal issue before the Registrar was whether the payments made by the father, specifically a utility bill payment, should be credited towards his child support assessment. This required the Registrar to determine if there was a mutual intention between the parties that such payments would be accepted in satisfaction of the child support debt, notwithstanding that they were not made through the Child Support Agency.

The Registrar's reasoning focused on the requirement for a mutual intention that non-agency payments would be credited. In this instance, the Registrar found no evidence of such a mutual intention regarding the utility payment. The decision under review, which refused to credit the non-agency payment, was therefore affirmed.