Canadian Child Support Guidelines

Understanding the various Canadian child support guidelines can help you see what can take place should you get a divorce. Child custody and support in Canada has certain laws that ensure the overall well being of the children involved. They want to make sure these children have every opportunity to engage in a secure future. There are many different times when Canadian child support guidelines will come into play. If one parent has sole custody then the other will be required to pay. When there is joint custody in place though, the children will be spending at least 40% of the time with each parent. The court may determine though that one of them has to pay child support to the other. There are quite a few different things that come into play under the Canadian child support laws though. The amount of money that will be ordered for child support depends on those factors and they can vary by location around Canada as well.

All of this is done to ensure that the children are financially secure when possible. It is also believed that such Canadian child support guidelines help to reduce the amount of ongoing conflict between the parents. They won’t be continually battling it out about who is going to take care of the various financial obligations that arise for children.

Once the judge has chosen an amount, the parent is obligated to pay it. The total is going to depend on the various expenses relating to the child. For example if they have ongoing medical needs then the cost will be more. There are some times when the Canadian law will allow a parent to pay less child support than the court decided though. Sometimes this can happen when other types of benefits are given to the child in the place of financial support.

The Federal government is responsible for overseeing that the Canadian child support laws are carefully followed. They also allow the various providences though to establish their own laws that pertain as well. This way the financial support can be parallel with the cost of living in a particular area. This power can make it confusing though so make sure you understand which laws apply in the area where you reside. You can be sure that the various guidelines will be closely followed to ensure the needs of the children are continuously met.

 

Under the Canadian child support guidelines, the payments must continue until a child is either 18 or 19 years of age depending on where they live at. The amount to be paid is also influenced by the number of children that have to be financially supported as well. When a child enrolls in a higher education program then the cost of that should be covered as well even if they are more than 19 years of age. If a child has an ongoing illness or disability then the child support payments may continue regardless of age in some instances.

The type of custody agreement that is in place will impact the payment as well under the Canadian child support laws. This is because of the factor of how much time the children are spending under the care of each parent. When there is sole custody the children will reside with one parent more than 60% of the time. When there is split custody the children will be spending at least 40% of the time with each parent. Income is also used to determine child support payments. Verification of the money that is earned has to be turned into the court.

If the custody is shared, then the income for both of the parents is submitted and taken into consideration. Also, any special circumstances or additional expense that they children may incur have to be looked at on a case by case basis. All of this information is plugged into different formulas for a dollar amount to be found under the various Canadian child support guidelines.