Support

[AnotherNiceGuy]

Hi all, great site you have here.
I am new to all of this and I have tried to answer my questions through this site and searching the internet in general.
I was hoping someone here could help me with the specifics of my questions.
Towards the calculation of child support do you use the exact amount that both parties make or is there a threshold where someone who works has to start? ie: minimum wage , number of hours
I have been reading conflicting articles on this subject and I am just looking for some clarity.
I have used the online calculators but they are short on explanation of how and why the calculations are created.
The other thing is spousal support length and amount, the calculators will give you a result like $550 - $1200 midpoint - $900 with the length as 4 - 9 years, how is this in practice really determined and what are the factors that help decide what the number really is?
I have read where the party with the most income ends up with a 60/40 split, if that is true is that after child support or before?
Any specific help on child support or spousal support would be greatly appreciated and if there is some other posts that explain the questions I have sorry for missing them and please just direct me to them with a link.
Thank You.

[momforever1956]

mysupportcalculator.ca,,, try that link.

[beebie]

oh is that all?...maybe we could sort out your matrimonial property too.

[momforever1956]

Oh beebie,

Do I detect just a touch of anger,,, my x can reccomend a great anger mangement course if you need some help... Fortunately for moi,,,,, I am a retired accountant, so I don't need help with sorting matrimonail property,,, thanks, anyways, and ohhh by the way, I was a stay at home mom for almost 30 years so that support calculator has been so wonderful to me,,,,,,and Dr. Happy Tooth doesnt like that divorce mate stuff and support calculator either... Oh well, such is life sometimes.

[dinkyface]

For CS, the actual income is used, unless the parent appears to be intentionally underemployed. In that case you can argue that they SHOULD be working full time minimum wage (about 20K/yr) - more if they have some marketable skills.
- If they are newly unemployed (laid off), or on mat leave, or disabled, or in school, or if there was some large income that is not expected to be repeated (e.g. exercising stock options, or one-time RRSP withdrawal, or high overtime hours beyond 40-50 hours/week), these are some reasons for some leniency in the rules. An average of the last 3 years income can be used for the initial year of CS (particularly if the yearly income is very variable).
- Daycare for the parent to attend this minimum wage job would be in addition to the CS (it is called a 'section 7' expense). You might agree to a trade off i.e. less CS (because less income) if it means no daycare expenses. But probably better (simpler, less arguing, easier to enforce) to keep the regular CS and section 7 expenses separate.
- See here for CS info (rules, explanations and calculations): About Child Support in Canada

See here for GUIDELINES (not rules) on SS: Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines

(also puzzled by beebie's response)

[caring grandma]

my son is currently facing a doubled child support. he receives taxable allowances because he is ready to deploy. they can be taken away at any time. his ex married another military and in the past four years has had three more children. ages newborn, 1 and 3. my grandaughter is 8. he shared custody one week on one week off. he has done all the dropping off and picking up. her spouse was posted 3 hrs away from my sons base and she decided to take my grandchild with them. my son rather then make waves agreed and he gets all hols. she just decided she needs more cs and family justice doubled his support. as of today he has been assessed 3600.00 back for 2011. he has a mediation set to happen for setting her an income as she declares none. does anyone know a situation such as this?? will mediator or judge force her to set an income even minimum wage?? or will she get away with not having any income because she has had three children in three years??

[blinkandimgone]

It doesn't matter if she has any income or not. The only time her income would be considered is if they have shared custody (50 - 50), which you said he gave up, he now gets all holidays instead. You don't say what the arrangement is otherwise.


If the assessment showed he owed $3600 then it seems that he was underpaying by about $300/month. The amount is determined based on his line 150 of his assessment and custody arrangement.


It's not rocket surgery, he underpaid. If/when his income goes down, so will the payments.