Child support officers

Child support officers are Attorney General employees who:

  • offer specialized assistance in child support matters, and
  • help parents to navigate the procedures involved to get and change child support orders and agreements.

What do they do?

  • Provide parents with information about:
    • legislation (the law),
    • court,
    • the child support guidelines,
    • the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program,
    • the availability of legal and financial advice, and
    • the range of settlement and mediation options available.
  • Identify the appropriate services for each case and assess the need for referrals to other support services.
  • Explore whether facilitated negotiation is appropriate in a particular case and if so, facilitate negotiations between parents who want to work toward agreement on child support.
  • Provide parents with information regarding the current tax treatments of support payments.
  • Help parents to compile the required financial disclosure documents by offering advice about where and how to access financial documentation.
  • Calculate child support amounts based on a review of existing orders and financial information.
  • Help parents complete the required documents (including consent and agreement documents and applications for court), draft orders and legal documents, and witness the signatures of both parties as a commissioner for taking affidavits.

Where can I find one?

Child support officers are currently available at the Family Justice Centres in Vancouver, Kelowna, Surrey, and Nanaimo. To contact a child support officer, call Service BC at:

  • 604-660-2421 (Greater Vancouver),
  • 250-387-6121 (Victoria), or
  • 1-800-663-7867 (no charge, elsewhere in BC).

Ask for a transfer to a child support officer near you. You won't need to pay for the call.