- Child support is calculated under federal Guidelines rather than negotiated freely. It is treated as the child’s right, not the recipient parent’s.
- The basic table amount depends on the payor’s income, the number of children, and the province.
- Certain expenses sit outside the table amount and are shared in proportion to income.
- Shared and split parenting arrangements are calculated differently from the standard case.
Why there is a formula at all
Before the Guidelines, child support was argued case by case, which produced wide inconsistency and a great deal of litigation over questions that had no principled answer. The Guidelines replaced that with a table.
The consequence is that in a straightforward case, child support is largely a matter of establishing income accurately. The argument, when there is one, is usually about the income figure rather than the formula applied to it.
The table amount
The basic monthly amount is set by reference to three things: the paying parent’s annual income, how many children are being supported, and the province of residence, since costs differ.
It is intended to cover the ordinary costs of raising a child, housing, food, clothing, everyday expenses. It is not itemised and does not need to be accounted for.
Because the table is published, the amount in an ordinary case is not really in dispute once income is known. That is by design.
Establishing income
For an employee with a single salary this is simple. It becomes harder where a parent is self-employed, is paid partly in dividends, controls a corporation, receives irregular bonuses, or has income from multiple sources.
The Guidelines contain machinery for these situations, including the ability to look at corporate pre-tax income and to add back certain deductions that reduce income on paper but not in reality.
Where a parent is deliberately under-employed, income can be imputed, that is, the court can decide what they could reasonably earn and calculate on that figure instead. The threshold is not “could theoretically earn more”; there has to be a real basis for concluding the parent is not earning what they reasonably could.
Section 7 expenses
Some costs sit outside the table amount and are shared separately, in proportion to the parents’ incomes. These are commonly called section 7 or “special and extraordinary” expenses, and typically include childcare necessary for a parent to work, health-related costs not covered by insurance, and certain educational and extracurricular costs.
Two conditions generally have to be met: the expense must be necessary in relation to the child’s best interests, and reasonable in relation to the means of the parents and the family’s spending pattern before separation.
This is where much of the real friction lives. The table amount is rarely argued; whether a particular activity or programme qualifies, and at what level, frequently is. Agreeing a process for approving these expenses in advance avoids a great deal of it.
When parenting time is shared
Where a child spends at least forty percent of the time with each parent, the calculation changes. Rather than one parent simply paying the table amount, the court considers the amounts each parent would owe the other, the increased costs of the shared arrangement, and the circumstances of each household.
This is more discretionary than the standard calculation, and it produces more litigation, partly because the forty percent threshold creates a cliff edge that parties sometimes argue about for reasons that are not entirely about the children.
Changing an existing amount
Support is not fixed permanently. It is based on income, and when income changes materially, the amount should change with it.
Parents can agree to adjust it, and many agreements build in an annual exchange of tax returns and a recalculation. Where they cannot agree, either can apply to vary. Waiting is a poor strategy for a payor whose income has risen, since retroactive adjustments are possible.
Common questions
Can parents agree to no child support at all?
Agreements departing from the Guidelines are scrutinised, because the entitlement belongs to the child. A court can decline to accept an agreement that does not adequately provide for the child.
Does child support stop automatically at eighteen?
Not necessarily. It can continue where a child remains dependent, commonly because of full-time education or a disability. Whether and for how long depends on the circumstances.
Is child support taxable?
Under the current regime child support is neither taxable to the recipient nor deductible by the payor. This differs from spousal support, which is treated the opposite way.
What if the other parent will not disclose their income?
Disclosure is compulsory in a support case, and there are consequences for refusing, including having income imputed and costs awarded. Non-disclosure tends to hurt the party who withholds.
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