Hiern and MacTavish (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicant, Hiern, against a decision of the Child Support Registrar regarding an administrative assessment of child support. The dispute centred on the Registrar's refusal to accept Hiern's estimate of his income for the purposes of the assessment. The case was heard by S Irvine M in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Child Support Registrar had erred in refusing to accept Hiern's estimate of his income. This required the Tribunal to consider the criteria under the relevant legislation for the acceptance of an estimated income, particularly whether the estimated income was less than the amount likely to be the actual income.

The Tribunal affirmed the Registrar's decision, finding that the estimate provided by Hiern was not sufficiently supported by evidence to demonstrate that it was less than his likely actual income. The Registrar's refusal to accept the estimate was therefore upheld as correct.