Special and Extraordinary Expenses
Child support payments cover the basic, everyday expenses of raising a child. These payments are meant to cover required expenses like food, shelter and clothing. In addition to paying the base amount of child support, a paying parent may also be required to cover a portion of other kinds of expenses. The Child Support Guidelines describe “special and/or extraordinary expenses”.
This may include certain other kinds of expenses such as childcare, medical and dental insurance premiums attributed to the child, medical and dental expenses for a child that exceed $100 a year, and post-secondary education.
In addition, Child Support payments do not cover expenses that are truly extraordinary. School field trips, sports equipment, specialized training and dental braces are examples of special and/or extraordinary expenses.
What makes an expense special or extraordinary?
First, expenses are extraordinary if they exceed what the requesting spouse can reasonably cover, in light of their income. In deciding what a parent can reasonably cover, the court takes into consideration the income of the requesting parent, as well as any child support received.
Where the expense does not exceed the amount that the requesting spouse can reasonably cover, the second part of the definition, directs courts to determine whether the expenses are extraordinary according to five factors:
- The amount of the expense in relation to the receiving parent’s income (including the child support amount);
- The nature and number of the educational programs and extracurricular activities;
- Any special needs and talents of the child or children;
- The overall costs of the programs and activities; and
- Any other similar factor that the court considers relevant.
Parents can make their own agreement about how special and/or extraordinary expenses will be shared between them.
Parents can agree to what expenses they will share, and how they will share them.
Parents can agree to share expenses which do not necessarily qualify as special and/or extraordinary expenses under the Guidelines . In addition, parents can agree on how they will share expenses. For example, they may choose to share them 50/50, instead of in proportion to their incomes.
Parents can make their own arrangements to pay special and/or extraordinary expenses. However, for an agreement to be enforced by the court, it should include:
- The name and birth date of the child for whom the expense was incurred;
- A description of the expense;
- The amount of the net expense to be paid, in dollars and cents;
- The frequency of the payments; and
- The starting date of the payments.
