Child Support


Child Support Guidelines

When parents separate and there are children of the relationship, child support will usually be payable by one parent to the other.


The parent that the child lives with most of the time usually has most of the expenses of raising the child. The other parent must usually help with those expenses by paying money to the parent with whom the child or children live. This is called child support.

 

All parents have a legal duty to support their dependent children. A parent can be a birth parent, a non­birth parent or an adoptive parent. They could also be a step-parent or a person who has a parent-child relationship with the child.
The parent who pays child support is called the payor parent.


In most cases, the amount of child support paid is based upon the government's Child Support Guidelines. These Guidelines say that child support is usually made up of both:
a)            a basic monthly amount, called Table child support to cover the child's usual expenses;
b)            an amount for other expenses, called special or extraordinary expenses.

 

Table Amount

The Child Support Guidelines have a child support table for each Province and Territory. The Table shows the basic monthly amounts of child support to cover expenses such as clothes, food and school supplies. The basic amount is also called the "Table amount".


The Table amount is based upon the gross annual income of the payor parent and the number of children they have to support. Gross annual income means total income before paying taxes and most other deductions. It is usually the amount on line 150 of the payor parent's income tax return. The child support Table for each Province and Territory is different. If both parents live in Ontario, the Ontario Table applies. If the payor parent lives in another Canadian Province of Ontario, the Table for that Province or Territory applies. If the payor parent lives outside of Canada and the other parent lives in Ontario, the Ontario Table applies.


Special or Extraordinary Expenses

As well as the Table amount, the Child Support Guidelines say that parents might also have to help pay certain other expenses. These are called special or extraordinary expenses. Some examples of these expenses are:
a)            child care fees, such as day care, to allow the parent who looks after the child to go to work or school;
b)            the part of medical and dental insurance premiums the other parent pays to cover their child;
c)            the child's health care expenses not covered by insurance, such as orthodontics, prescriptions, eye glasses, counselling or hearing aids;
d)            extraordinary expenses to meet the child's particular education needs, such as tutors or private school fees;
e)            expenses for post-secondary education; and
f)            extraordinary expenses for the child's extracurricular activities.

 

In most cases, both parents contribute to special expenses based upon how much they earn. If both parents earn the same amount of money, they split the cost of special or extraordinary expenses equally. If one parent earns more money than the other parent, that parent will pay a proportionally greater amount of the expense.


Please contact Genesee Martin Associates should you have a question with respect to child support. Christopher R. Martin has extensive experience in successfully pursuing child support claims for clients through negotiation and before the Courts.

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Child Support Lawyer HamiltonRegardless of which areas of family law you are looking for assistance with, Chris will help you secure the best possible outcome for your case and for your family.

 

For over 40 years Genesee Martin have been helping their valued clients fight for their rights. If you want to schedule a confidential consultation, you can get in touch with Genesee Martin Associates today at 905-522-7066.

 


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