Determining Child Support Obligations. Who Pays and How Much?

iStock_000004623024XSmall

Parents have a legal responsibility to financially support their dependent children and dependent children have a right to receive financial support from their parents. A “dependent” child is a child under the age of majority who is neither married nor living independently.  “Dependent” children can also include those over the age of majority who are either full-time students or are unable to become self-sufficient due to illness or a disability.

Obligation to Pay Child Support

Typically, when one parent has the primary responsibility for the day-to-day care and expenses of raising a child, the other parent must assist with those expenses by paying money to the parent with whom the child primarily resides.

Relevant Legislation

The amount of child support payable for a dependent child is established pursuant to the Child Support Guidelines. The Child Support Guidelines were established in 1997 by the federal government and have been adopted by the Ontario government.  The Child Support Guidelines set out a parent’s monthly child support obligations based on the support paying parent’s gross annual income and the number of children entitled to support.  The Child Support Guidelines were created to establish a fair standard of support for children and to reduce conflict and tension between parents by making the calculation of child support more objective.

Imputing Income

A court may impute income to a parent who either fails to file responding materials to an application for support, including an Answer and/or financial disclosure, necessary to determine income, pursuant to section 19 of the Child Support Guidelines. A court may also impute income to a parent who is intentionally underemployed or unemployed and has not made reasonable efforts to seek employment.  When imputing income the court takes into consideration several factors including the age, education, work experience, skills, and capability of the paying parent, as well as that parent’s work and earning history.

Exception to the General Rule

Under section 10 of the Child Support Guidelines there is an exception to the application of the Guideline amount of child support payable referred to as “undue hardship”, where a parent may request a judge to order a different amount of child support due to financial constraints.  A number of circumstances are eligible for a claim of “undue hardship” including a paying parent’s high level of debt incurred to support the child and a paying parent’s unusually high expenses in relation to exercising access to the child.

To meet the burden of proof of “undue hardship” in any case is challenging. Even if a judge concedes that the child support amount payable would cause the paying parent hardship, a finding of “undue hardship” and, as a result, varying the amount of child support payable, is an uncommon occurrence.

For More Information

For more information about Child Support, please contact Niren and Associates Family Law Practice at 416 222 4555 or email us at info@divorcesupport.ca.

Email This Post Email This Post


By candice - Last updated: Monday, December 21, 2009
Filed in Child Support • Tags: