In May 1997 the Federal Child Support Guidelines came into effect. In the majority of situations, the calculation of child support requires three major steps:
First, each parent's Guideline Income must be determined;
Second, the Child Support Guideline Tables are used to obtain the Child Support Guideline amount the payor parent must pay to the primary caregiver parent based on the number of children and the payor parent's Guideline Income.
Third, the payor parent may be required to pay a share of the following additional expenses:
- Extraordinary extracurricular activities;
- Extraordinary school related expenses;
- Post secondary expenses;
- Child care expenses;
- Medical and dental premiums; and
- Medical expenses exceeding $100.00 per annum, over health insurance
- If the payor parent is required to pay a share of any of the above expenses, the will be calculated as the payor parent's percentage of the combined incomes of the 2 parents. For example, if the payor earns $40,000.00 and the other parent earns $60,000.00, than the payor may be required to pay 40% of these extra expenses.
- Where a parent would suffer from undue hardship from paying the Guideline amount of child support, the table amount may be reduced. It is very difficult to prove undue hardship and a reduction in the table amount will be awarded in only the most dire of situations;
- Where a payor earns in excess of $150,00.00 per annum;
- Where parents share the time they spend with their children in excess of 40%;
- Where parents split caring for the children between two houses such that one child is with one parent primarily and the other child and/or children are with the other parent primarily;
- Where the children are over the age of 18 years.
For more information, please review the Justice Canada Child Support Website at: http://canada.justice.gc.ca/
