schedule 7 - Childcare expenses.

[Denese]

My divorce order states that my ex has to pay a portion of childcare expenses as we both work. My mother recently retired and has offered to take my girls to school, fetch them after school and take them home. She does homework with them and supervises their activities. I love this and so do my two girls. It also helps her financially as her pension is small. However. My ex is refusing to pay her for this service even al though she formally invoices us - at less than normal daycare costs.
Our agreement gives me final say in this decision (I.e. Who provides the service). What are the steps I need to take to enforce payment of his share?

[Berner_Faith]

At first glance from reading your post...your ex could be thinking that you may not be actually paying your share of this expense and it is your mother, even though she is invoicing you. If it only says daycare expenses I suppose he could argue that she is not an actual daycare?
Start with sending him an email stating that according to the agreement he is to pay X amount for child care... the current invoices you have state that he owes $XXX.XX for these expenses, Could he let you know when you can expect payment for these expenses... are you through FRO for support?

[Tayken]

Originally Posted by Denese

My divorce order states that my ex has to pay a portion of childcare expenses as we both work. My mother recently retired and has offered to take my girls to school, fetch them after school and take them home. She does homework with them and supervises their activities. I love this and so do my two girls. It also helps her financially as her pension is small. However. My ex is refusing to pay her for this service even al though she formally invoices us - at less than normal daycare costs.
Our agreement gives me final say in this decision (I.e. Who provides the service). What are the steps I need to take to enforce payment of his share?

1. Take the matter to court on this issue and the judge will look at you with crossed eyes. This is a baby sitting service and not "special and extraordinary" per the rules.

2. If you don't produce a tax receipt for the services your mother is providing you won't get the money. S7 expenses can only be paid on expenses that are real. Cash under the table to a family member doesn't count. Sorry. If your mother is paying income tax on the money being provided then you have to produce the receipts.

3. It is odd that your mother would charge for her services. Most judges are small "c" conservative and would find it odd that a family member such as a grandparent would be charging for this.

I don't think you would find a sympathetic judge to your claim that this is an S7 expense.

Good Luck!
Tayken

[Berner_Faith]

Child care is a section 7 expense...

(a) child care expenses incurred as a result of the custodial parent’s employment, illness, disability or education or training for employment

However... the mother must claim the money she is getting for babysitting, and again, the Father can argue that you are not actually paying child care costs because she is your mother...

Like Tayken stated, I to find it odd that a grandmother would charge for this service...

[HammerDad]

This would be s7, as pre and after school care is considered an extra-ordinary expense.

But I do agree with a lot Tayken's other points.

The cost your mother is charging would have to first be legitimate. Meaning she needs to be claiming the whole amount as income. If she is good.

Then the costs needs to be split proportionally to income after taking into consideration and tax benefits you may receive. So, lets say your mom charges $500 a month. You earn $40k and your ex earns $60k (I like nice even numbers). You receive $100 per kid from the gov't for child care (lets say you have 1 kid). Now you do the math:

$500 -$100 (child care benefit) = $400

$400 x 60% = $240 = your ex's proportional share

$400 - $240 = $160 = your contribution

My ex's mom also looks after my D6 before and after school. She retired when my ex went back to work. She doesn't charge. I regularly thank her for her help and contribution.

[Denese]

Thanks for your comments. However, my mother is not providing babysitting per se, but legitimate daycare as I work full time and do not get sposusal support payments from my ex. Previously daycare was provided by the YMCA at the school at a considerably higher costs. In terms of the CRA, what we pay to her is tax deductible and my ex and I shared the cost of those charges proportionately and the tax deduction too. I do not pay my mother 'under the table' as has been intimated! I pay her the full amount of her invoice to me as she declares it as income for tax purposes. Surely, the benefit of having a family member who really cares for the children is preferrable to them spending 11 hours at school (from 7:15 am to 6pm when I collect them), doing mundane crafts. It is a win-win situation. If I am required to stay at work late which happens often, I do not have to pay her an extra $10 for every 5 minutes I am late getting them after 6pm! The income I pay her is appreciated and helps her survive on her meager pension.

[Tayken]

Originally Posted by Berner_Faith

Child care is a section 7 expense...

(a) child care expenses incurred as a result of the custodial parent’s employment, illness, disability or education or training for employment

However... the mother must claim the money she is getting for babysitting, and again, the Father can argue that you are not actually paying child care costs because she is your mother...

Like Tayken stated, I to find it odd that a grandmother would charge for this service...

If it is for "after school" it technically doesn't fall under S7. It is a real grey area that takes a Ouija Board to solve at court. The courts are starting to push away from S7 being anything but an actual and licensed daycare these days.

Also, the father can argue that the grandmother should be billing him directly and have an HST number. It can get really ugly fast if you push too hard on an issue like this.

Good Luck!
Tayken

[HammerDad]

This may be a case of your ex having to reimburse you and not liking it.

Pay only your proportional share and give the invoice to your ex to remit payment directly to your mom. It may be easier in the long run.

[Tayken]

Originally Posted by HammerDad

This may be a case of your ex having to reimburse you and not liking it.

Pay only your proportional share and give the invoice to your ex to remit payment directly to your mom. It may be easier in the long run.

Actually a good idea. There should be a proportional share breakdown. Furthermore, I think Hammerdad may have asked this... But don't you have your agreement registered with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO)? If not you can register it at any time. If the S7 breakdowns are clearly stated they can enforce it on him. (So long as the invoices you are talking about are legit.) Why even bother with the other parent on this when you can get it through FRO. (Takes time though.)