Tatro and Tatro (Child support)

The Deputy President and a Senior Member of the Child Support Appeal Tribunal considered an application for a departure determination concerning child support payments between the parties, referred to as Tatro and Tatro. The dispute centred on whether the existing child support assessment should be varied to take into account the income, property, and financial resources of both parents, and specifically, whether the costs associated with the children's private education should be included in the calculation.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the circumstances of the case warranted a departure from the standard child support assessment. This involved assessing whether the existing assessment was unfair or unreasonable given the financial positions of both parents and the specific expenses incurred for the children's private schooling. The core legal issue was whether these factors constituted special circumstances that justified an adjustment to the assessed child support amount.

The Tribunal reasoned that the inclusion of private school fees as a component of the children's necessary expenses was a relevant consideration for a departure determination. They applied the principles that child support assessments should reflect the actual costs of raising children, particularly where those costs are significant and agreed upon by the parents. The Tribunal found that the existing assessment did not adequately account for the substantial expenditure on private education, which represented a significant financial commitment for the family. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the previous decision and substituted its own determination, acknowledging the impact of private school fees on the parents' financial obligations.