Children matter. To put significant weight behind that principle, legislation has established child support as the right of children. It cannot be waived by a parent to make a better deal with a former spouse. It takes priority over spousal support.
To encourage parents to provide for their children after separation, 100 percent of the payment goes to benefit the children. None of the payment is remitted as taxable income.
If there is any doubt that the child support commitment will not be honoured, a judge has the discretion to refuse to grant the divorce.
And there are significant consequences to the parent who breaches an obligation to pay support. Suspension of a driver’s licence and imprisonment are two means of enforcement.
The Ontario Child Support Guidelines came into effect in December 1997 as a comprehensive standard for matters covering the economic wellbeing of children. Its goals are to standardize child support payments to reduce conflict between the parents and increase the efficiency of handling child support disputes.
A child entitled to receive the benefit of child support still lives with a parent or guardian. The child may be over 18 years of age but, due to continued educational studies, illness, disability, or some other reason, is unable to become independent. The term “child” includes a stepchild being parented by a non-biological spouse, as in a blended family.
There are essentially two parts to child support: the fixed, table amount; and the flexible special and extraordinary expenses.
The monthly fixed Table amount is intended to assist with expenditures such as housing, clothing, food, and some activities. The amount is found in a grid or table where the total gross income of the payer (Line 150 of a general Ontario tax return) is linked to the number of children entitled to receive support. This fixed monthly amount of support, called the “table amount,” is reviewed annually when the parents file their income tax returns or when there is a material or significant change in a household to warrant an immediate review. The review is to ensure that all relevant factors are taken into consideration when arriving at the amount to be paid by the payer to the recipient parent or spouse.
The second component of child support relates to the special and extraordinary expenses which may be of limited duration and flexible in nature. These expenses are shared between the parents or spouses in a way which is proportionate to their respective incomes. Examples of these expenses, commonly known as “section 7 expenses” owing to their statutory reference, include
Extraordinary expenses are defined as those child expenses which exceed what a parent or spouse can reasonably cover given the parent’s income and the table amount she or she receives from the payer parent. Other factors taken into consideration are the number of activities the children are enrolled in, the overall cost of the programs, and the special needs and talents of the children. Tax benefits, subsidies, grants, bursaries, and other benefits are also taken into account when assessing whether an expense is extraordinary or the table amount inappropriate. The Universal Child Care benefit is excluded from consideration.
Child support terminates when a child
Child support will not terminate if a child takes a temporary summer job residing away from a custodial parent’s home, enjoys a vacation, or attends a residential school program all the while maintaining the home base with that parent.
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