The law of child support has changed dramatically in the last
two years. You may have heard that the Federal Government introduced
the Child Support Guidelines. The Government decided to add an
element of certainty to the issue of child support by introducing
guidelines which dictate the amount of basic support that must
be paid. As with any law the Government didn't completely close
all the loop holes and unfortunately there is still much that
lawyers can argue over when it comes to child support.
If you want further information check out the Federal Government
site at:
This site has excellent information which explain how the Guidelines work, including a workbook so that you can calculate what your level of child support might be.
The Guidelines are not a complete answer to the solving the riddle of child support. They are though an important step in the right direction. Again parents should resolve to make an effort to work out this issue with the aid of a mediator rather than just fighting it out with their lawyer. Of course you have to have legal advice, but why not try and talk it out with your ex-spouse and save yourself a lot of money.
The idea behind the Guidelines is to get rid of parents squabbling over what is the proper amount of child support. If the payor parent is making $20,000.00 per year and there is two children, then the child support payable is x number of dollars. What could be simpler? Unfortunately the Guidelines are not this simple and life is not that simple.
Here then is a summary of how to calculate support under the Guidelines. (Courtesy of the Federal Government.)
The Guidelines apply to all divorces granted after May 1, 1997. So if you are going through a divorce now and have children, then the Guidelines apply to you.
The tricky question is whether you want to bring an old order under the Guidelines. Depending on the facts it may or may not be beneficial to do so. This is because the Guidelines did away with the income tax deduction for the payor of child support. Also under the Guidelines, child support does not have to be included in the income of the person receiving the support. Simply put you need legal advice to figure out the answer.
If you are not married, but have children, do the Guidelines apply? Probably yes, but legal advice is again essential to determine your options.
To the question you might answer duh?
But the answer is not as simple as it might seem. First, you must determine which children are being considered for support, and whether they are under or over the age of majority. All children of the marriage who are under the age of majority are covered by the Guidelines; children of the marriage at or over the age of majority may be covered by them. Get it? If your child is over 18, he or she may still be dependent on you for support. Also the support rate for a children over 18 may be different than one under 18, particulary if they are attending college or university.
You also have to consider whether you have stood in the place of a parent to any children and are therefore liable to pay child support. Your lawyer should provide you with some questions that will help you answer this question.
The Guidelines divide custody arrangements into three categories. Sole custody, split custody, and shared custody. You need to decide which type of custody arrangement applies to your situation before you can calculate the approximate amount of child support. The words "sole custody," "split custody" and "shared custody" may be used in the Guidelines in a way that is different from how you would describe custody arrangements to friends, or from how provincial or territorial laws might define these words. Be sure to choose the description that reflects your situation.
Most couples fall under the "sole custody" arrangement. That is, one parent has the children most of the time, with the other parent having the right of access. Lets hope that the words custody and access are eventually eliminated, but for not we are stuck with them, at least as far as the Guidelines are concerned.
Split custody can occur only when there are two or more children in the family. With splitcustody, each parent has sole custody of at least one child. In other words, at least one child lives with one parent more than 60 per cent of the time over the course of a year and at least one other child lives with the other parent more than 60 per cent of the time. Both parents may still make all decisions about the children's education and upbringing; it is the living arrangements that are split between the two parents.
Parents have shared custody of their children under the Guidelines when the time the childrenl ive with each parent is shared nearly equally. In a shared-custody arrangement, the children live with each parent at least 40 per cent of the time over the course of the year.
Each province has it own table for the Guidelines. The table you choose is the one where the person who is paying the child support lives. So if Dad is paying support and lives in Alberta, then you choose the Alberta table. Fortunately as you are reading this on line you can find the appropriate guideline table at the reference located at the top of this page. Or if you want give me a call and I can provide with a copy of the appropriate table.
This can be an easy answer or hard answer and depends on what sort of a job the payor of child support has. If the payor works at a regular paying job for the government, for example, then it is fairly clear what their annual income is. Many people don't have jobs like this and this is why it is often difficult to calculate what one's income is. A good place to start is your income tax returns for the last three years.This should give an idea of what a person is making, even if they are self-employed.
Again getting legal advice on this step couldn't hurt.
Refer to the table that you obtained in Step 4 and see what you have to pay or you are to receive.
In addition to the amount of child support set out in the child support tables, bothparents may be required to pay part of a child's "special expenses." The paying parent's portion of these expenses would be added to the basic amount from the child support tables. Special expenses are reasonable expenses that are in a child's best interests and that are consistent with the family's means and spending pattern before the separation. For example, if a receiving parent has child care expenses, the parents may agree that they are reasonable and necessary and, for this reason, a portion of the child-care expenses should be added to the basic amount from the child support tables. If the parents cannot agree on which special expenses are to be shared, either one can ask a judge to decide for them or better yet go to mediation and work out an agreement at considerably less expense.
Each parent shall contribute to the special expenses according to their ability to pay. For example if the payor parent earns $50,000.00 per year and the other $25,000 per year then payor parent would pay 66% of the special expense.
No area of the Guidelines causes more legal headaches than this. The law is all over the place. Legal advice is essential here and again mediation couldn't hurt to work out this area.
This is one step where having a lawyer with a computer to answer this question would be useful. However it seems in only extreme cases will a claim for undue hardship be applied. It is nevertheless worth exploring with your lawyer.
As you can see the Guidelines are complicated, even though on the face they seem simple. Having a lawyer who knows their stuff and is cost efficient in figuring out your bottom line is your best bet. Don't spend a fortune in legal fees to make or save a few dollars. Again working it out is most often your best option.
You may download a copy of the Alberta Guidelines at the following address:
http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/sup/grl/tbl1_4/alta_b.pdf
This will give you a better idea of what you can expect to receive or pay for child support.
