Under Ontario Family Law, both parents are obligated to financially support their children under 18, or who are unable to support themselves due to illness, disability or are enrolled in a full-time program of education. Child support payments are therefore a reflection of this obligation. Child Support in Ontario is governed by Legislation (Family Law Act and Divorce Act), but a set of guidelines called the Child Support Guidelines (table amount) are widely used in practice and are persuasive in court.
It is important to remember that child support is not being paid to parents; it is for the benefit of the children. The idea is for children to be able to continue a similar standard of living after their parents’ divorce as they did before, and that this standard is more or less the same in both homes. The law has moved increasingly towards a child-first approach in all areas of divorce law, so the judge will make sure that the best interests of the child are kept at the forefront of all parts of the settlement, not least financial.
Sometimes, separating couples decide to use the table amount in the Child Support Guidelines (available here), but the Guidelines assume that one parent is the primary residential parent and the other is non-primary residential parent, whereas your parenting arrangements could look different from this. There are also other factors that could alter the table amount. When you go to formalize your divorce, the court will want to see that there will be a fair and accurate payment moving forward. At Affinity Mediators, we use specialized software designed to make accurate calculations based on the facts of your case.
Although there is no limitation period for a parent to obtain child support from the other parent, claiming it should not be unnecessarily delayed, or it may be difficult to obtain arrears.
It is necessary to disclose the most accurate information about your income to your spouse and to your mediator. There are a couple of reasons for this: There is good faith implicit in negotiations when you have voluntarily chosen to stay out of court, so if you withhold any information from your spouse, this may damage trust in the mediation process and necessitate its termination, ultimately leading you to the costly litigation alternative. And secondly, when you file for a formal divorce using your Separation Agreement, the court will want to ensure that both parties have been adequately represented and understand their rights under the law. If there is any doubt about the completeness of financial disclosure, your Separation Agreement may not hold up in court.
You will need to provide documentation pertaining to:
Our mediators make it easy for you to stay organized by providing you itemized lists of necessary documentation to follow, so that your eventual divorce application to the court is seamless and efficient.
As we saw above, there are three factors which affect child support, and one of them is the type of parenting arrangement. The most basic rule is that child support is paid to the parent with whom the child resides. You may have any one of the following parenting arrangements:
Other than the basic cost to feed, shelter and clothe children, there are often extraordinary expenses associated with raising them. These include sports clubs, child care, extra curricular lessons, post-secondary expenses and a few others. These costs are NOT part of the child support payments. Lawyers and mediators use specialized software to calculate these expenses based on the respective income of both parents.
We look forward to collaborating on a tailored solution that meets your needs.
