Parents with child support problems What do we do? The NSW Legal Aid Commission's Child Support Service gives free legal advice and assistance to: paying parents who have to pay financial support for a child/ren after separation, and carer parents who are or should be receiving financial support for a child/ren. We are not part of the Child Support Agency or Centrelink and can therefore you give you independent legal advice. Our service is confidential. We only provide information about you or your case to outside bodies with your permission. You must be a resident of NSW to get assistance from us. How do we help carer parents? We can help you with: assistance with negotiating agreements proof of paternity problems child support agreements representation in court proceedings child support review applications obtaining child maintenance for the first time overseas child mainten How do we help paying parents? We give free advice about: how the Child Support Agency works calculation of child support assessments changing your child support assessment enforcement procedures child Support agreements changing court orders paternity and other child support issue We provide advice All legal advice to both carer and paying parents is free. We can assist you to follow up your case with the Child Support Agency or by writing to the other parent involved in your case. We represent you in court If you are a carer parent and need more than legal advice, child support lawyers can represent you in certain court proceedings. You will need to meet Legal Aid's means,merit and policy guidelines to get a grant of aid. You may be required to pay a contribution. Our means test looks at how much money you have and how much you own. Our merit test looks at whether the case is likely to succeed If you are a paying parent, other Legal Aid lawyers or a private lawyer may be able to help you. First, you will need to meet Legal Aid's means, merit and policy guidelines. What happens if the other parent is getting help from Legal Aid? This is called a conflict of interest. When you call to make an appointment you need to give us details about the other parent of your child/ren such as their name and date of birth. We use this information to find out if the other parent has been given advice by a Legal Aid lawyer. In certain circumstances, we will not be able advise you. However we can still help by referring you to another service that can help. Important: Both people involved in a child support case can receive a grant of legal aid. In these cases, one person must be represented by a private lawyer or community legal centre. How to contact us The Child Support Service is located at: Level 4, 74-76 Burwood Rd Burwood NSW 2134 Tel: (02) 9744 3833 or for country callers (1800) 451 784 tollfree. We see people at Burwood and at other Legal Aid offices in Blacktown, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Gosford, Sutherland, Newcastle and Parramatta as well as locations at Kingsford and Richmond. If you do not have a community legal centre or Legal Aid office near you, you can get help by calling us toll free 1800 806 913 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

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The information contained on this page is not legal advice. If you have a legal problem you should talk to a lawyer before making a decision about what to do. The information on this page is written for people resident in, or affected by, the laws of New South Wales, Australia only.