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School Uniform - Special & Extraordinary Expense?

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  • School Uniform - Special & Extraordinary Expense?

    Do any of you know whether school uniforms (for a Catholic school, not private) are considered special and extraordinary expenses... or are they considered part of the clothing expense in child support?

    Any clarification and legal links would be great. Thanks in advance.

  • #2
    Go to CanLii

    Ontario
    Superior Court of Ontario

    In search bar type in: school uniforms child support

    There are many cases to look at.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by arabian View Post
      Go to CanLii

      Ontario
      Superior Court of Ontario

      In search bar type in: school uniforms child support

      There are many cases to look at.
      Did that. The cases seem divided. Some judges believe school uniforms are considered clothing covered under child support while other judges deem school uniforms could fall under S.7(1)(d) and be considered special and extraordinary.
      I was hoping to find something more concrete.

      Any ideas?

      Comment


      • #4
        I am not sure what would be more concrete than Canlii cases, but my ex and I consider them section 7. Because they are required for Catholic school and cannot really be worn other places, they are section 7. We share collared shirts, jeans and blue pants and jumpers. Anything with the school logo obviously.

        Send your ex links to Canlii cases where it was decided that they were Section 7 and try to keep the costs low by shopping Old Navy, etc.

        Comment


        • #5
          It always comes down to interpretation and what constitutes "reasonableness" and "extraordinary." Every case is different. Which makes handling Section 7 expenses so daunting.

          Gotta pick your battles.

          In this case, we will consider school uniform an S7 expense.

          Comment


          • #6
            Income often affects whether something is considered S7. A $500 expense may be considered 'extraordinary' if you have low income, but not if you have a higher income i.e. where CS levels are high enough to cover such an expense.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by SadAndTired View Post
              I am not sure what would be more concrete than Canlii cases, but my ex and I consider them section 7. Because they are required for Catholic school and cannot really be worn other places, they are section 7. We share collared shirts, jeans and blue pants and jumpers. Anything with the school logo obviously.

              Send your ex links to Canlii cases where it was decided that they were Section 7 and try to keep the costs low by shopping Old Navy, etc.
              Some cases I read were ordered similarly. Others claimed that because the parents will be saving money on back to school outfits, uniforms were considered an expense that could reasonably be covered by child support. It was interesting to see the different interpretations by different judges. Which sadly does not help clarify whether in the rules of family law, school uniforms are or are not conifers special and extraordinary. Not unlike most family law related things, right? ;-)

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by dinkyface View Post
                Income often affects whether something is considered S7. A $500 expense may be considered 'extraordinary' if you have low income, but not if you have a higher income i.e. where CS levels are high enough to cover such an expense.
                Yes. That seemed to be a guiding factor in the cases I read. The question is.. where's the threshhd? What is considered low and high? If both parents make $40k, would a $500 expense be reasonably covered by child support? Depends who you ask... the payor or the recipient. ;-)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Maggie82 View Post
                  It always comes down to interpretation and what constitutes "reasonableness" and "extraordinary." Every case is different. Which makes handling Section 7 expenses so daunting.

                  Gotta pick your battles.

                  In this case, we will consider school uniform an S7 expense.
                  Perhaps. Ex makes 6 figures. My child support would be considered substantial. My point is that school uniforms are a "special" expense. Public school children do not require them and you still need to purchase normal fall clothing.

                  Because they are required for school (not optional like school supplies), ex's lawyer told him to pay up. We didn't even have to argue. Ex called his lawyer and she told him that he had to pay.

                  I know this because ex forwarded his lawyer's email to me with some other information included.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by SadAndTired View Post
                    Perhaps. Ex makes 6 figures. My child support would be considered substantial. My point is that school uniforms are a "special" expense. Public school children do not require them and you still need to purchase normal fall clothing.

                    Because they are required for school (not optional like school supplies), ex's lawyer told him to pay up. We didn't even have to argue. Ex called his lawyer and she told him that he had to pay.

                    I know this because ex forwarded his lawyer's email to me with some other information included.
                    Thanks for sharing SadAndTired. We figured it was an S7 expense. Didn't really have an issue with that. But we are dealing with someone who thinks that everything under the sun is an S7 expense (e.g., multivitamins, school supplies, bathing suit for camp, etc.) so we need to always double check.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Just dealing with section 7 and found this interesting link, which discusses all sorts of section 7 expenses and notes cases for each type and decision. Nice little reference

                      http://www.nathenssiegel.com/2.pdf

                      Hope the link works, never done this before.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        My ex and I do not treat my D10's catholic school uniform as s7. The money the ex spends on the school uniform saves her from buying other clothes. The costs balance out. The kid needs 3 shirts for school one way or another, what is the difference if it is for a uniform or from the Gap?

                        My ex and I are also on the upper-middle side of the income scale (both incomes around +/-$80k). So c/s from me is a good amount for 1 child.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by HammerDad View Post
                          My ex and I do not treat my D10's catholic school uniform as s7. The money the ex spends on the school uniform saves her from buying other clothes. The costs balance out. The kid needs 3 shirts for school one way or another, what is the difference if it is for a uniform or from the Gap?

                          My ex and I are also on the upper-middle side of the income scale (both incomes around +/-$80k). So c/s from me is a good amount for 1 child.
                          Thanks for sharing HammerDad. That sounds about right and in line with what I've read in Canlii. Basically the lower the income (less child support) the more common it is for the uniform to be a special and extraordinary expenses. The higher the income (more child support) the more reasonably it can be covered by child support alone. Because there is no hard line clarifying what is considered "low" and "high" it is a difficult expense to figure out. Dad has agreed to it... if only in hopes of getting all the other demands for things like vitamins and supplements, non-covered health-related expenses within the $100 limit, a bathing suit (?) and other non S7 items forgotten about. Especially when Mom is bringing up email correspondences from 2005! "Well then you paid for this prescription and that and it was only after $96 total of non-reimbursed health-related expenses, not the full $100, so you have to pay for it now too." You try to be agreeable once by sparing her $4 and she uses it against you 10 years later. How nice.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            In case it helps anyone...

                            It was confirmed by our lawyer that school uniforms are in fact Section 7 expenses.

                            Some judges may still believe that they are not, but most are viewing them as expenses of Section 7.(1)(d).

                            Just an FYI.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              so you contact your lawyer on a Sunday evening about this.

                              I would hazard a guess that the lawyer's hourly rate far exceeds the cost of the uniform.

                              Comment

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