Child Support
As a parent, you each have an obligation to support your children. If the children reside primarily with you, your spouse (the access parent) will be required to pay you child support. This amount is determined by the Child Support Guidelines which set out the applicable amount payable based on the payor's income and the number of children being supported. The child support amount payable is affected if your child also lives more than 40% of the time with the other parent.
Child support is not tax deductible by the payor and is not taxable in the hands of the recipient.
The Guidelines amount can be adjusted in certain circumstances.
Your children may need day care, orthodontic treatment, tutoring, and may already be enrolled in hockey, soccer, ballet lessons, etc. These are additional expenses for which the primary parent may seek contribution from the access parent.
Even if post-secondary expenses may seem far off, it is worth discussing at the outset and to include guidelines as to how these costs will be shared between you.
Child support payments can be enforced (garnished from the payor's income) by the Family Responsibility Office. The payor's driver's licence can be suspended for non-payment of support.
It is important to determine whether to bring a motion to vary your child support payments if there is a material change of circumstances of you, your ex-spouse or the children. For instance, if a child is no longer attending full time school or the child's place of residence has changed - it is not enough to simply stop paying, you must obtain a court order, otherwise the Family Responsibility Office can continue to garnishee your wages or continue to accrue the arrears.
