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Social Security Act 2018

Administration - Prosecutions and debt-recovery proceedings, and maintenance proceedings

388: Payment of benefit does not affect right to maintenance

You could also call this:

“Getting benefits doesn't mean you can stop helping your family”

If you receive a benefit under this Act, it doesn’t change your responsibility to support or maintain other people. The law still expects you to take care of your family members if you’re able to.

Getting a benefit doesn’t stop a court from making an order that says you need to support someone. It also doesn’t stop the Commissioner of Inland Revenue from deciding how much child support or domestic maintenance you should pay.

The Family Proceedings Act 1980 and the Child Support Act 1991 are two important laws that deal with supporting family members. Even if you get a benefit, these laws still apply to you. The courts can still use these laws to make decisions about support payments.

Remember, just because you get help from the government doesn’t mean you don’t have to help your family if you can. The benefit is there to support you, but it doesn’t replace your duty to your family members.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6783923.

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Part 6 Administration
Prosecutions and debt-recovery proceedings, and maintenance proceedings

388Payment of benefit does not affect right to maintenance

  1. Any entitlement to, or payment of, a benefit under this Act, does not—

  2. take away, or restrict, a person’s liability under an Act (for example, the Family Proceedings Act 1980, or the Child Support Act 1991) to maintain or support any other person; or
    1. affect a court’s power to make a maintenance order under any Act; or
      1. affect the Commissioner of Inland Revenue’s power under the Child Support Act 1991 to make an assessment of child support or domestic maintenance, or to accept a voluntary agreement; or
        1. affect a court’s power to make an order under the Child Support Act 1991.

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