Wharton and Feek (Child support)

The case of *Wharton and Feek (Child support)* concerned a dispute between the parties regarding child support payments. The matter came before the court for review of a previous decision.

The central legal issue before the court was whether a payment made by the father for school fees constituted a "prescribed payment" for the purposes of child support, and consequently, whether the father was entitled to credit for this payment against his child support liability. The court was required to determine if there was a mutual intention between the parties that this payment would be in lieu of or reduce the child support otherwise payable.

The court affirmed the previous decision, finding that there was no mutual intention between the parties that the payment for school fees would be treated as a child support payment. The court reasoned that for a payment to be considered a prescribed payment, there must be an agreement or understanding between the parties that it would be credited against child support obligations. In this instance, the payment was made for school fees, and there was no evidence to suggest that the parties had agreed that this would discharge or reduce the father's statutory child support liability. The court concluded that the credit for the payment was correctly refused.