What Types of Child Support are Available?
Child support is normally one of the simplest matters to determine in court. Child support is based on the payor’s income, the number of children, and the “Child Support Guidelines” (the CSG). The CSG dictates exactly how much child support the payor must pay.
Determination of Child Support
The determination of child support can become complex when there is uncertainty relating to the payor’s income. This challenge often arises when dealing with self-employed payors. The payor will claim a certain income.
The recipient will take the position that the payor is being untruthful about his or her income. Most child support ligation relates to the determination of income.
Time Counting
The remainder of child support litigation deals with ‘time counting.’ The CSG provides [g] that the quantum of payable child support will be reduced or adjusted if the child spends at least 40% of his or her time with one of the parents and the remainder of the time other parent.
The desire to meet the 40% threshold is, at times, motivated by a desire to reduce one’s child support obligation. In such circumstances, parties become often entrenched in their positions, resulting in lengthy and costly litigation.
Special and Extraordinary Expenses, or Section 7 Expenses
In addition to child support, both parents are expected to share ‘special and extraordinary expenses’ on a “pro-rata basis.’
This means that in addition to payable child support, both parents will be expected to pay for daycare, extra-curricular activities (though there is some debate about when this is considered an extraordinary expense), and post-secondary education (the first post-secondary degree, at the very least).
Such expenses must be shared on a pro-rata basis, meaning in proportion to each parent’s income. To illustrate this principle, if the mother earns $100,000 per year and the father earns $50,000 per year, their child’s monthly daycare expense of $999 per month will be shared as follows: mom pays $666 and dad pays $333.
