Child Support
What is Child Support?
After separation, both parents are legally required to contribute to the financial support of the children. Child support is money paid by one parent to the other parent, to contribute to the expenses associated with caring for the children. Although the money is paid to a parent, child support is the legal right of the child.
With both parents contributing to the children’s expenses, the children’s living conditions will be better than if only one parent provides support. Who pays child support, and how much, depends upon the children’s residential arrangements.
Key Legal Facts about Child Support
- The parent who lives with the child most of the time is usually entitled to child support from the other parent.
- If a child spends equal, or almost equal, time with both parents, the parent with the higher income will usually have to pay child support.
- Courts base the amount of child support according to the Federal Child Support Guideline
Resources
- For more on the laws about your rights and responsibilities towards your children see Child Support .
- See the Child Support Guidelines to help you determine the appropriate payment amounts.
Who Pays Child Support?
Both parents have a legal duty to financially support their children. Biological parents have this obligation even if one parent never sees the child and has no role in the child’s life.
When one parent takes care of the children most of the time (more than 40% of the time), their financial support happens through the day to day expense of taking care of the children. The other parent will need to pay child support.
Where parents spend roughly the same amount of time (at least 40% of the time each) with the children, the parent who makes more money will pay child support, usually at a reduced rate.
A guardian appointed under the FLA , who is not the child’s parent, may have a duty to pay child support, but that duty is secondary to the parents’ duty. In other words, the parents’ duty to pay child support comes first.
Step-parents and persons who stand in the place of a parent can also be asked to pay child support, although the rules are slightly different for these people and their obligation is often lessened by a biological parent’s obligation. Child Support - Special Circumstances has more information on Step-parents and non-parental guardians.
Resources
Temporary child support can be sought with an Interim Order. This is useful if you can’t reach an agreement over child support and are facing a long wait before your trial.
What Expenses Does Child Support Cover?
How is Child Support Calculated?
The Canadian Government has produced Child Support Guidelines that are used by separating parents in every province to calculate child support payments. For each province, the Guidelines are based on the living arrangements of the children, the gross income of the payor and the number of children. The Child Support Guidelines are based on the assumption that the parent who has the children for most of the time will bear most of the costs associated with the children.
The support payor’s contribution is set according to the average proportion of income that a parent at that income level spends on their children. In broad terms, the guidelines ask “What would a parent with this income usually spend on their children?” Child support payments are set accordingly. The receiving parent is presumed to contribute to the children in proportion to their income.
Resources
Learn more about how to calculate child support by going to the Federal Child Support Guidelines: Step-by-Step .
