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Questioner

My partner and I have had joint custody of his oldest daughter for 1.5 years. Now this week we were made aware that if that were the case, the child support should also have been shared. Now our question is whether we can claim this back from his ex retroactively. We have also now requested a form (which will be sent to her) to arrange things properly from now on... but what if she doesn't cooperate?

Lawyer

Retroactive effect will generally not work because the contribution has already been spent on the child in general and the ex did not have to take this into account at the time. Incidentally, to my knowledge it is not the case that the child benefit must be shared. After all, in that case both parents can independently claim child benefit via the SVB under certain conditions. You will indeed receive a form for this. If she refuses to fill it out, it may be wise to ask for mediation from possibly even the SVB, and otherwise from a mediator or lawyer.