Child support

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About child support

Child support (sometimes called child maintenance) is money paid by one parent to the parent who has custody of the children.

If you were married and are now separated or divorced, your child support order could be based on either the Divorce Act (federal) or the Family Relations Act (provincial).

If you were never married to the other parent, your child support order is based on the Family Relations Act.

You may find it useful to look through the act that your support order is based on for more information:

• the Divorce Act
• the Family Relations Act

To get print copies of either act, visit your local library.

To read more about child support orders, see our booklet Living Together or Living Apart: Common-Law Relationships, Marriage, Separation, and Divorce.

What are the child support guidelines and how do they work?

Child support orders made in British Columbia are based on the Federal Child Support Guidelines. These guidelines contain tables and clear rules that courts must use to set child support. The tables list the amount of child support the payor has to pay based on how much he or she earns and how many children the payor must support. Each province has its own table; you use the one for the province where the payor lives.

To figure out how much child support the payor should be paying under the guidelines:

1. Use the Child Support Online Lookup tool to calculate the correct amount of child support (effective as of December 31, 2011).

OR

1. From the main page for the Federal Child Support Guidelines, under Schedule I, choose the province where the payor lives. For example, for British Columbia, Under Schedule 1 - Federal Child Support Tables, click [British Columbia/Colombie-Britannique]. The child support table for the selected province appears.
2. Choose the table that applies to you, based on the number of children you are seeking support for.
3. Find the number closest to the payor's gross annual income in the Income column (income is listed as a range; e.g., 24000 – 24999).
4. Look to the right of these figures for the basic amount payable. If the payor's income is higher than the lowest income figure, multiply the amount of income that exceeds the lowest amount by the percentage under Plus (%) to get the correct figure. See Schedule 1 for an example of how to work this out.

The guidelines also allow judges to consider making orders for amounts that are different from those shown in the tables if:

• the court agrees with the payor's claim for undue hardship,
• the child is age 19 or over (and not in school full-time),
• the payor is a step-parent, or
• either party's income is over $150,000.

The judge can also make an order that's different from the tables if either party is making a claim for special or extraordinary expenses.^ Back to top

What is "undue hardship"?

The payor can claim that paying the amount of support required by the Child Support Guidelines would be an undue hardship, meaning excessive, exceptional, or disproportionate.

When making this kind of claim, the payor must report all income coming into his or her household, including any income or contribution from a new spouse or partner. This includes any contribution to household expenses, rental income, dividend income, investment income, and business income. If the payor makes this claim, the recipient must also provide this information.

The payor may show undue hardship by setting out relevant expenses, such as:

• any excessive or unusually high level of debt;
• any other support payments being made to children of another family under another court order (for example, from a previous marriage);
• any support to a disabled or ill person; or
• any unusually high expenses incurred in visiting a child (for example, airfare to another city).

In any claim for hardship, the court also considers the relative standards of living of the two households. The court will refuse a claim of undue hardship if it would result in the payor's household having a higher standard of living than the recipient's.

What are special and extraordinary expenses?

The child support guidelines say that each parent is required to contribute to the special or extraordinary expenses of raising the children. The amount is based on the proportionate incomes of the parents. For example, if the payor earns twice as much as the recipient, the payor will be required to contribute twice as much to the cost of the special or extraordinary expenses.

Either party can claim special or extraordinary expenses. For example, if you're the payor and you're paying for private school for your child, even if he or she isn't living with you, you can make a claim for contribution from the recipient. You must show that the special or extraordinary expenses are necessary for the child's best interest — above and beyond what is covered by the child support itself.

Generally, these are special or extraordinary expenses:

• Child care expenses while the recipient works or goes to school
• Medical and dental insurance premiums attributed to the child
• Health-related expenses that exceed insurance reimbursement by at least $100 per year, including orthodontic treatments, counselling, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, hearing therapy, prescription drugs, hearing aids, glasses, and contact lenses
• Expenses for post-secondary education
• Tutoring
• Private school (if the child was attending private school before the separation and the parents can afford the expense)
• Payments into a scholarship fund (depending on the means of the parents)
• Extraordinary expenses for activities in which the child excels and is shown to be particularly gifted (for example, expenses for a child who is a gifted figure skater, but not expenses for general skating lessons).

Generally, these expenses aren't considered special or extraordinary:

• Children's share of rent, food, or laundry costs
• Children's ordinary recreation costs
• Children's clothes (with the possible exception of uniforms for private school)
• Children's ordinary schooling costs, including field trips and lunches, unless for post-secondary education
• Children's allowance or pocket money
• Children's transportation
• Costs of visiting the children (although this may be part of an undue hardship claim)
• Babysitting expenses

Important: The law changes frequently. It's a very good idea to talk to a lawyer about these categories if you'd like to claim special or extraordinary expenses.

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What is the 40 percent principle?

When a child lives with a payor 40 percent of the time or more, that parent may be able to argue that he or she should have to pay less support than the guidelines say. In fact, in such cases, judges don't have to strictly follow the guidelines and can order lower support amounts. When a payor makes this request, the judge will consider how often the children are with the payor, as well as the gross annual income of both parents and the increased costs of sharing custody. The court will also consider other factors, such as the circumstances of both parents and of the child being supported.

To make such a claim, it's useful to have documents showing that the total amount of time you have physical care and control of the children is 40 percent or more of the year. This includes the time that you're responsible for the children, even if they're not physically with you (for instance, they're in school or at daycare). For example, if one parent has the children every weekend and the other parent has them during the school week, the parent who has them during the school week still has them for the majority of the time. In this case, the children are considered to be under that parent's care and control even when they're physically at school.

If you want to use the 40 percent principle to try to lower child support, get legal advice. This principle entitles you to ask to reduce the support you pay, but it doesn't guarantee that the court will grant your request. This is a complex issue and you need legal help.

What financial information do we need to provide to each other and to the court, and when?

Agreements about child support sometimes happen informally, with one parent producing an income tax return to prove income and nothing more. However, sometimes a court order is necessary to get one of the parents to provide documents proving their income.

Both the Supreme and the Provincial Courts have rules that require parents to disclose (exchange) financial information. These disclosure rules ensure that people make decisions about child support based on the facts about each parent's income. It isn't appropriate to agree to child support based on what one of the parents says. All payors (and recipients in some cases) must provide proof of their income by filing a financial statement at the court registry.

The Supreme Court disclosure rules, the Provincial Court disclosure rules (see Rule 4), and the Federal Child Support Guidelines set out when a payor and a recipient need to provide financial information to each other. You'll need to do so if:

• you're being asked to pay child or spousal support,
• you're making or responding to an application to change a spousal or child support order,
• you're applying for a reduction or cancellation of arrears, or
• you're asking for spousal support.

In some cases, you'll also have to provide financial information if you're asking for child support (for instance, when you ask for special or extraordinary expenses).

For more details about when and how to provide financial information, see our self-help guide How to deal with a Supreme Court Financial Statement (Form F8) or the instructions provided in the Provincial Court Financial Statement (Form 4).

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How do income tax rules affect my child support payments?

Recipients whose child support orders were made before May 1, 1997 have to declare the child support they receive as income for tax purposes. Recipients whose child support orders were made on or after May 1, 1997 don't have to declare the child support they receive as income for tax purposes.

Payors whose child support order was made before May 1, 1997 can deduct child support they pay from their income for tax purposes. Those payors whose child support orders were made on or after May 1, 1997 can't deduct the child support they pay from their income for tax purposes.

Cancelling or reducing arrears

Arrears are past support payments that haven't been paid. While the law does allow a judge to reduce or cancel arrears, it's difficult to do unless there's a very good reason for the change.

The Family Relations Act allows a judge to cancel or reduce arrears if it would be grossly unfair not to do so.