Ibsen and Harrison Ibsen

The parties before the court were the father and the mother, who sought to vary a child support order made by the Superior Court of [W] for [K] County, USA, on 20 December 2001. The application was heard by Judge Terry in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue was whether the court had the power to vary the existing overseas child support order, and if so, on what basis. The court was required to consider the application of Regulation 36 of the Family Law Regulations and section 66S of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in determining the appropriate variation.

The court reasoned that it had the authority to vary the overseas order under the relevant legislative provisions. It ordered that the father's obligation to pay $USD1,500.00 per month for the support of the four children be varied. The variation stipulated that the father would pay the total amount already paid under the original order up to and including 20 January 2014. Furthermore, in addition to this past payment, the father was ordered to pay $125.00 per week for the support of the youngest child, [Z], commencing on 21 January 2014 until she turned 18. All other applications made by the parties were dismissed.