Child Support Law in Ontario

 

CHILD SUPPORT

Child Support is the right of the child and not of the parent. The federal government has laid out what the child support amount should be for a person based on their annual income as stated on line 150 of their income tax return. The other factor that determines the amount of child support is the amount of time that the parent has the child(ren) in their care. If a parent has a child in their care for 40% or more of the time, than the calculation is based on a shared parenting regime. If on the other hand, the parent has the child(ren) for less than 40% of the time, than the only child support that is payable is from the access parent. This is based on their annual income. The federal government publishes the table every year for child support amounts based on varying amounts of annual income and so the child support can be calculated by looking at the tables. The link to the tables….

If a person does not pay the child support that is owing the recipient parent can bring an application in Court for financial disclosure, child support and child support arrears. There really isn’t much point in disputing an application for child support since the government has laid out the very specific amounts of child support that is payable. It is possible in some circumstances for a parent to have their child support reduced and have their child support payments as less than the amount that is prescribed under the Federal Child Support Guideline Tables. Where the table amounts would cause undue hardship. It really is up to the judge whether to allow that claim and often times the claim for undue hardship is unlikely to succeed as child support is, at the end of the day, the right of the child. If a person has not paid child support in contravention of a Court Order, the family responsibility office will enforce the child support obligations. They have a number of mechanisms such as garnishing wages, suspending the payor’s driver’s license, and incarceration. The unfortunate reality is that it is common for parents who don’t pay child support, in some situations, to end up incarcerated. As such it is very important, for one to be up to date with their child support payments. If there is a situation of undue hardship, you should speak to a lawyer today to see what your options are and what can be done to reduce or renegotiate the payment terms. In general, we always advise to make the appropriate financial disclosure and pay child support, courts do not like or view non-payment of child support favourably.

In terms of financial disclosure, the Family Law Rules makes it mandatory for disclosure to be provided to the other party where there is shared parenting or if the payer parent has the child less than 40% of the time. The general form of financial disclosure is set out in Form 13 or Form 13.1. This is called a financial statement. If there are property issues, most often occurring in divorce proceedings than a Form 13.1 will be used. On the other hand, if there are no property issues than a Form 13 will have to be filled out. Both forms require the last three years of Notices of Assessment and Reassessment to be attached, along with the last pay stub or social assistance stub. In some situations, this is not sufficient financial disclosure. This often occurs where a parent is working cash jobs. In these circumstances, it is reasonable to request the bank statements, resume, and job search history in order to determine the veracity of the line 150 income as reported on tax return. In these circumstances, the official line 150 income does not include the cash payments. As such, they would be underpaying child support.

ARREARS

In many circumstances, a payer parent simply refuses to pay child support. In these circumstances, if there isn’t an Order for child support than the only real recourse for the recipient parent is to file an application in court and get an Order for child support. In Ontario, whenever an Order for child support is made, the court also has to make a Support Deduction Order. This Order is sent to the Family Responsibility Office (“FRO”). What FRO can do is much more effective than what a payor parent can do in terms of enforcing the child support order. What FRO can do is they can garnish wages, and suspend a person’s driver’s license. In addition, where non-payment is not fixed in a timely manner, FRO will bring an application and seek a short jail term, usually for 10 days. FRO will enforce a child support order, and they will not hesitate to use all the mechanisms at their disposal to make sure child support is being paid. So, if you have not been receiving child support, reach out to us today so that we can help you get the child support that your child needs.

SECTION 7 EXPENSES

Often times a parent will incur special or extraordinary expenses in taking care of their child. The legislation provides for further support payments to be made to satisfy these expenses. Some examples of section 7 expenses are babysitting, braces in dental care, medical expenses, extracurricular expenses, and even post-secondary tuition. The way section 7 expense is apportioned between the parents is based completely on their respective incomes in relation to each other. If both parents make equal amounts, then the section 7 expense would be divided equally. On the other hand, if for example, one parent makes twice as much as the other parent, that parent will pay 2/3 and the other parent will pay 1/3 of the section 7 expense. The section 7 expense is divided in proportion to each parents’ income. However, these expenses cannot be incurred unreasonably. They must be discussed between the parents.