Child Support Guidelines

[representingself]

Hello Mark.......

The bad news is that even if your child isn't attending classes regularily right now, she is only 16 and you are definitely on the hook for child support until she is 18, (at least), as long as she lives with her mother.

Basically, CS can continue after the child reaches the age of majority as long as the child is in a full time educational program, and until the child is completed her first diploma/degree.

If she continues high school past 18 on a full time basis, and remains at your ex's house, you will have to continue paying CS.

If she completes highshcool at 20, still lives at home, and then goes to college, you will most likely have to continue paying CS through college.

I don't think there is a timeline or cut off date..... I have read some case law where the child gets halfway through a diploma program, changes their mind and starts a new program, and the NCP keeps on shelling out the bucks.

But, if you daughter doesn't get her act together, college wont be an option, and you wont have to pay CS after she has finished her grade 12.

If she moves out of your ex's house and is not attending school, immediately file a Motion to Vary, as your daughter would no longer be considered a "child of the marriage", and therefore your ex wold be no longer entitled to support.

You might want to consider getting your daughter some counselling, there may be underlying reasons why she is refusing to go to school. Also contact your local school board and sick a truancy officer on her little behind.

In Ontario, a child cannot get her driver's licence if she is not attending school. A business can be fined if a person under the age of 18 is "working" during school hours, and I also believe that it is illegal for a child under the age of 18 to be truant.

[Mark1968]

[quote=representingself;27964]Hello Mark.......

The bad news is that even if your child isn't attending classes regularily right now, she is only 16 and you are definitely on the hook for child support until she is 18, (at least), as long as she lives with her mother.

Basically, CS can continue after the child reaches the age of majority as long as the child is in a full time educational program, and until the child is completed her first diploma/degree.

If she continues high school past 18 on a full time basis, and remains at your ex's house, you will have to continue paying CS.



Thanks for your quick response representingself, you've told me everything I've already feared. My daughter has not attended HS full-time since her first year, no doubt by the time she is supposed to be graduating she will need to stay for an extra few years to get her credits. I don't doubt that she will not be able to go to school full time after having goofed off and missed at least half the school year for her first four years.

The funny thing is, when I asked the judge during our CS case for custody of her education the judge called me a deadbeat...in other words, of course, while praising her mother. The same mother who lost custody of her daughter a few months after our case was over. I did get the right to all of my daughter's education and medical info. in our support order but the mother has refused to supply me with any information. In fact, she advised me to go back to court and refuses to talk to anyone but my lawyer because she knows I can't go back to court until I pay off what I already owe via credit card debt for the first case.

I'm frustrated and angry. I do feel the law does not work in favour of the non-custodial parent and unless you can afford about 60K in legal fees you're out of luck. Right now my daughter is back at home with her mother, supervised by the same social worker who had taken her out of her mother's care, on a probationary basis. When she was out of her mother's custody I attempted to have the child support rerouted to the foster parents and was told, go back to court, the mother receives the money as long as the order is in place. When I asked the mother what she was doing to contribute to the support of her daughter now that she was no longer in her care, she very bitterly told me that she had given up her CTB, WHAT? My CS was still going to her and all she did was give up money that most people aren't entitled to anyway because they work and support their kids rather than rely on welfare and gov't hand outs. My wife and I work, we have one child, we pay taxes and our CTB is a very low two digit number because we make too much money. My ex works under the table, receives welfare and lives in pulic housing, receives a fairly large CS from me which is non-taxable (and occassional support from two of her other children's fathers) and her CTB surpasses my wife's after tax income minus our daycare expenses.

My daughther has had years of counselling, it is ongoing. She is supervised by catholic children's aid and all I do is pay my CS. I have no rights, in fact, not even the right to move on because I do have a new family. I have a wife and one chlld who is getting older every year and we just can't afford to have another one, not because of the CS, but because of lawyer's fees etc. because of the issues we had with my ex. My current wife is desperate for a child but we are realistic and would never go ahead and just do it and hope the gov't is there in case we can't afford it. In our first CS case my ex stated that I had no contact with our child and provided no money all the while she was lving below the poverty level and, of course, having more kids with men who already had them and weren't supporting hers. This was easily disproven because I often gave her money with a paper trail, yet I still looked like a deadbeat in court and she was Mother Theresa. Despite the fact that all of her lies were disproven during our three case conferences in the first CS case, the judge still sided with her...I don't understand that kind of logic.