It is the right of the children to be supported by their parents in accordance with their incomes.
Child support is the money one parent pays the other for the financial support of their child/children. In most cases, the parent who has the children most of the time gets support from the other parent.
How is Child Support Calculated?
As a general rule, child support is to be calculated in accordance with the Federal or provincial Child Support Guidelines.
If the parents are divorcing or have divorced then child support is determined in accordance with the Divorce Act and Federal Child Guidelines.
A parent may seek child support in a province where he/she had been residing for the last one year before the divorce proceedings started.
A former spouse may bring an application for child support in a province in which he/she is ordinarily resident the start of the proceeding or if both the spouses accept the court’s jurisdiction.
If the parents are not divorcing or were not married then the application for child support is determined in accordance with the Family Law Act Ontario Child Support Guidelines.
A different amount may be awarded where
special provisions have been made by the parents in a written agreement making guideline amount less favorable, or
on a consent order with reasonable arrangements in accordance with guidelines, or
on a consent order which has a level of support less than the Guidelines amount provided the child is being supported by welfare payments.
The paying parent also has to contribute towards special and extraordinary expenses for the children, such as, day care, medical and dental expenses not covered by health insurance, extra-curricular activities.
As a general rule both parents share the cost towards special and extraordinary expenses in proportion to their incomes, but can agree on a different percentage.
Who is a Child?
The Divorce Act restricts eligibility for child support to a child of the marriage.
Child of the marriage means:
who is over the age of majority but is unable because of illness,disability, or other cause to withdraw from their charge.
a child who is under the age of majority and has not withdrawn from the parents’ charge
The Family Law Act restricts eligibility to an unmarried child ,who is a minor or enrolled in full-time education and, if over the age of 16, has not withdrawn from parental control.
The “child” under the Family Law Act includes a person to whom a parent has shown a settled intention to treat as a child of his or her family.
The obligation to child support extends till the completion of first post secondary degree but court may extend the support depending on:
the financial circumstances of both parents and the child,
the child’s academic performance, and
family education expectations.
Does residential arrangement affect child support?
If a child primarily resides in one parent’s home for at least sixty (60) percent of the time, the other parent then has to pay child support calculated in accordance with the Guidelines.
If a child spends more than forty (40) percent of the time in one parent’s house and less than sixty (60) percent in the other parent’s house then the court can depart from the Guidelines amount.
If custody of the children is divided, with one or more residing primarily in each parent’s home, child support is calculated as the set-off between the amount each parent would pay for the child or children in the other parent’s care.
Do the ages of the children matter ?
Children over the age of majority can also be eligible depending on the financial means, needs and condition of the child, that is,
child’s ability to earn income,
availability of loans, scholarships, bursaries if the child is enrolled at a post-secondary institution,
child’s performance at school or in a post-secondary institution,
child’s budget.
What is retroactive child support?
Court may order a child support to be paid for a period preceding the application for child support.
The order for retroactive support will only be made after considering:
the reason for delay in making the application,
the conduct of the payor,
child’s present and past circumstances, including need at the time that the change occurred, whether the retroactive award will cause hardship.
