Marks and Bernard (Child support)

The case of *Marks and Bernard* concerned a dispute over the percentage of care for a child, which impacts child support assessments. The decisions under review, made by the Child Support Registrar, were set aside and substituted by the court.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine the likely pattern of care for the child from the commencement of the administrative assessment. This involved assessing the evidence presented regarding the care arrangements and how they aligned with the legislative requirements for calculating child support.

The court's reasoning focused on establishing the factual circumstances of the child's care. It applied the principles of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* to ascertain the percentage of care each party was likely to have provided. The court considered the evidence to determine the most accurate reflection of the care arrangements from the relevant assessment period. The court set aside the previous decisions and substituted its own findings regarding the percentage of care.