Child Support Lawyer in Mississauga

How the amount is calculated

Child support in Ontario is governed by the Federal Child Support Guidelines (or the provincial equivalent, depending on whether the parents were married). The basic amount comes from a table and depends on only three things: the paying parent’s gross annual income, the number of children, and the province of residence.

On top of the table amount sit section 7 expenses, special or extraordinary expenses, shared between the parents in proportion to their incomes. These include child care necessary for a parent to work or study, the portion of medical and dental premiums attributable to the child, health expenses over $100 a year not covered by insurance, extraordinary primary and secondary school expenses, post-secondary expenses, and extraordinary extracurricular activities.

The word “extraordinary” does real work. Ordinary recreational activities that the table amount is expected to cover are not section 7 expenses. Whether an activity crosses the line depends on its cost relative to the parents’ incomes and the family’s spending patterns before separation.

Where shared parenting changes the calculation

Where a child spends at least 40 per cent of the time with each parent over the course of a year, section 9 of the Guidelines applies. The usual approach starts with a set-off: the table amount each parent would pay the other, with the higher-earning parent paying the difference.

A set-off is a starting point, not an answer. Section 9 also requires the court to consider the increased costs of a shared arrangement (two bedrooms, two sets of everything) and the condition, means, needs, and circumstances of each parent and child. A strict set-off can leave a child materially worse off in one household than the other, and courts will adjust.

Getting to 40 per cent is also more contested than parents expect. Counting is done by hours rather than overnights in most cases, and a schedule that looks like it crosses the line often does not.

When income is not what the tax return says

Section 19 of the Guidelines lets a court impute income where the stated figure does not reflect reality. This arises constantly with self-employed parents, corporations, and cash income.

• A parent who is intentionally under-employed or unemployed, without a reasonable explanation
• Income diverted through a corporation, where pre-tax corporate income can be attributed to the shareholder
• Personal expenses run through a business, which are added back
• A parent who fails to provide the income disclosure the Guidelines require
• Income from a jurisdiction with significantly lower tax rates

Disclosure obligations here are ongoing and continuous. A parent paying support must provide updated income information on request each year; a parent who refuses invites an imputed figure they will like considerably less than the real one.

Adult children and when support ends

Support does not automatically stop at eighteen. It continues for a child who remains under the parents’ charge and unable to withdraw from it, most commonly a child pursuing a first post-secondary degree, and also a child unable to become independent because of illness or disability.

For adult children, the table amount is not automatic. Section 3(2) allows a court to order an amount it considers appropriate having regard to the condition, means, needs, and circumstances of the child and the financial ability of each parent, which typically accounts for the child’s own contribution from summer work, grants, and loans.

Changing an existing amount

Child support is always variable on a material change in circumstances. The most common is a change in the payor’s income, which should be reviewed annually rather than left to drift for years and then litigated as a lump sum.

Retroactive support is available, and the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions in D.B.S. and Michel v. Graydon make clear that a payor who conceals income or fails to disclose cannot rely on delay as a shield. Awards commonly reach back three years, and further where there has been blameworthy conduct.