Martelli and Haynes (Child support)

The case of *Martelli and Haynes* concerned a dispute between the parties regarding the crediting of a non-agency payment towards child support obligations. The decision was made by Senior Member Ellis of the relevant tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the tribunal was whether a payment made directly by the non-resident parent to the resident parent for utility expenses should be credited against the child support assessment. This required the tribunal to consider the conditions under which such non-agency payments could be recognised and credited under the relevant legislation.

Senior Member Ellis reasoned that for a non-agency payment to be credited, there must be a mutual intention between the parties that the payment would be in satisfaction of the child support liability. In this instance, the tribunal found no evidence of such mutual intention regarding the utility payment. Furthermore, the tribunal determined that the specific conditions prescribed by the legislation for crediting non-agency payments were not satisfied, as the payment was not made with the intention of discharging the child support debt.

Consequently, the tribunal set aside the previous decision and substituted its own, refusing to credit the non-agency payment towards the child support assessment.