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  • Served; increase child support

    Original separation agreement 2008
    Child support, as ruled paid on time. Have been served to request an amendment to the original support order due to my gradual increase in income over the last 4 years. Court date is Aug 14. Also, requesting a payment of upwards on $11,000 in retroactive payments reflecting the difference in amount ordered to pay (as per the tables) & actual owed (income).
    Question:
    1) Still paying off legal fees/equalization/pay offs, it will be hard enough to pay the extra $200 in support per month, but that is for my children, no problem. However, there is absolutely no way I can come up with $11,000+, what are my options. Is it common for judge to rule in favour of payments going back that far?
    2) I have provided NOA's every year as ordered, but no request for increase from Ex before this, so I assumed all is well. Should I just automatically increase support according to tables each year (it's through FRO)?
    3) Ex receives child support for our son from myself and his biological father. I pay the full amount I should according to the tables. My lawyer advised in dealing with the original agreement that it wasn't even worth bringing up that she gets support from the biological too. Can I bring it up now? Would that amount be deducted from mine?
    Any advise would be welcomed, Thankyou.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Seansdad View Post
    Original separation agreement 2008
    Child support, as ruled paid on time. Have been served to request an amendment to the original support order due to my gradual increase in income over the last 4 years. Court date is Aug 14. Also, requesting a payment of upwards on $11,000 in retroactive payments reflecting the difference in amount ordered to pay (as per the tables) & actual owed (income).
    Question:
    1) Still paying off legal fees/equalization/pay offs, it will be hard enough to pay the extra $200 in support per month, but that is for my children, no problem. However, there is absolutely no way I can come up with $11,000+, what are my options. Is it common for judge to rule in favour of payments going back that far?
    Yep. You should have been adjusting annually, or setting the increase aside just in case, and then it wouldn't have built up like this. The only times I've heard of exceptions if is the child is an adult now and the arrears would only be a transfer of wealth to the mother instead of going to the benefit of the child.

    Originally posted by Seansdad View Post
    2) I have provided NOA's every year as ordered, but no request for increase from Ex before this, so I assumed all is well. Should I just automatically increase support according to tables each year (it's through FRO)?
    It's your responsibility to adjust things annually. Just because your ex didn't ask back then doesn't change your obligation. FRO would need a court order to reflect a new payment, so you should be submitting a motion to change to get the new court order each year after tax time.

    Originally posted by Seansdad View Post
    3) Ex receives child support for our son from myself and his biological father. I pay the full amount I should according to the tables. My lawyer advised in dealing with the original agreement that it wasn't even worth bringing up that she gets support from the biological too. Can I bring it up now? Would that amount be deducted from mine?
    If you were ordered to provide CS to a child who isn't biologically yours, there must have been some sort of established parental relationship. I hope you are also having access to him to maintain that, for his benefit. But the time to fight that would have been during the original separation. I don't think you can go back and argue it now. You and the biological father are both paying table child support, according to your own incomes, to a child you are responsible for, either by blood or by choice. They are not connected or affected by one another. It's admittedly a good deal for the mother, and that might tempt you to be bitter, but try to keep a good relationship with the boy and continue to be a father figure to him. It's in his best interests, especially if the biological father doesn't have contact and only pays CS.

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    • #3
      Isn't this kind of order for child support from a non-biological parent normally very rare and often time limited unlike standard CS?

      What legal (or rational) logic is there for a mom to receive full table CS TWICE for the same child?

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      • #4
        What legal (or rational) logic is there for a mom to receive full table CS TWICE for the same child?
        Yea I agree..that's bullcrap.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Rioe View Post
          It's admittedly a good deal for the mother, and that might tempt you to be bitter, but try to keep a good relationship with the boy and continue to be a father figure to him. It's in his best interests, especially if the biological father doesn't have contact and only pays CS.
          Oh you have no idea how many times I have swallowed a bitter pill to maintain calm and respect around our 2 sons...as a child of divorce I know how damaging any negative words about the other party can be (no matter how deserving) I'm well versed in this. Thank you for taking the time to advise.

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          • #6
            Thanks for the support!!! I love my kids but I just wish everything was fair, you know?

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by winterwolf7 View Post
              Isn't this kind of order for child support from a non-biological parent normally very rare and often time limited unlike standard CS?

              What legal (or rational) logic is there for a mom to receive full table CS TWICE for the same child?
              A biological parent is on the hook for CS no matter what.

              A step-parent who is involved in a step-child's life like a parent has legally taken on responsibility for that child. If the parental relationship ends, should the child's step-parent be suddenly a non-entity in the child's life? That would not be in the best interests of the child, who has presumably grown to love their step-parent and may even know them better than the biological parent. This would be evaluated in court, and the step-parent relationship rigourously assessed.

              The two situations operate independently of one another, so yes, a mother could get paid CS for the same child from more than one parent. The step-parent relationship is presumably established over a number of years before it gets to the point where there could be a CS obligation, so someone couldn't just jump from relationship to relationship and get CS from each ex.

              Simple answer; best interests of the child.

              "In loco parentis" would be legal terminology to use to search for more information.
              Last edited by Rioe; 07-16-2012, 12:11 PM. Reason: missed a gendered term and I was trying to be neutral

              Comment


              • #8
                Oh you have no idea how many times I have swallowed a bitter pill to maintain calm and respect around our 2 sons...as a child of divorce I know how damaging any negative words about the other party can be (no matter how deserving) I'm well versed in this. Thank you for taking the time to advise.
                Well said Sean. Your kids are lucky...sounds like they have a really good dad. Hang in there.

                Comment


                • #9
                  A biological parent is on the hook for CS no matter what.

                  A step-parent who behaves like a father and is involved in a step-child's life like a parent has legally taken on responsibility for that child. If the parental relationship ends, should the child's step-parent be suddenly a non-entity in the child's life? That would not be in the best interests of the child, who has presumably grown to love their step-parent and may even knows them better than the biological parent. This would be evaluated in court, and the step-parent relationship rigourously assessed.

                  The two situations operate independently of one another, so yes, a mother could get paid CS for the same child from more than one parent. The step-parent relationship is presumably established over a number of years before it gets to the point where there could be a CS obligation, so someone couldn't just jump from relationship to relationship and get CS from each ex.

                  Simple answer; best interests of the child.
                  Rioe:

                  I obviously get the best interest of the child point. I also understand that the bond formed between a child/parent isn't necessarily always a question of biology.

                  However, to compensate someone twice for the same child isn't necessarily benefitting the child. Its benefitting the payee UNLESS the income coming from one payor or the other is reduced to a 50/50 sharing amount.

                  I'm unclear to how this works. If both parties are paying into one table amount..shared or portional to income..that's one thing. But to collect a double table amount for the same child is ridiculous. You're basically double dipping for the same child. I'm not sure how you could argue that that is reasonable or fair. It seems a technically that unfairly advantages and benefits one person...the payee.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Under the Divorce Act and I *think* most of the provincial laws, step parents can be ordered to pay.

                    Here's a link that may be of interest:

                    Rights & Remedies: When does a Step-Parent Have to Pay Child Support?

                    There are certain rules that must be met, they are listed on the website.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      That's pretty scary, I didn't realize it was actually fairly easy to be put on the hook for other people's children, or that it was easily accepted by the courts that it's OK for a mom to double/triple dip on full CS for one child from multiple partners.

                      Something to keep in mind with new partners...

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                      • #12
                        A step parent paying CS for a non-biological child really isn't that far fetched.... you enter into a relationship with someone who has children, and you build your own (blended) family unit. As a parental figure in the home, you are participating in raising that child and have formed a parent-child relationship. Blood relations really don't mean squat these days...... Even though my own father was always a part of my life, my step dad was more a dad...

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                        • #13
                          I just want to clarify that I have no problem paying child support for my stepchild; I just think it would be fair for the support received from the biological as well to be deducted; but I guess that's just not the case in our court system.

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                          • #14
                            Sean...sounds reasonable to me. It shouldn't be different from the way a mom and dad pay offset child support.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Pursuinghappiness View Post
                              However, to compensate someone twice for the same child isn't necessarily benefitting the child. Its benefitting the payee UNLESS the income coming from one payor or the other is reduced to a 50/50 sharing amount.
                              This is just returning to the classic argument about how a CS recipient isn't required to account for the money going directly to benefit the child. Who's to say the recipient doesn't use all the money, from both sources, for the child? It's not a problem specific to "double dipping."

                              Originally posted by Pursuinghappiness View Post
                              I'm unclear to how this works. If both parties are paying into one table amount..shared or proportional to income..that's one thing. But to collect a double table amount for the same child is ridiculous. You're basically double dipping for the same child. I'm not sure how you could argue that that is reasonable or fair. It seems a technically that unfairly advantages and benefits one person...the payee.
                              I agree that on the surface, it looks unfair. But the alternative, which you hint at to make it more fair, of sharing table amount (what would you even use to calculate the base amount - their combined income?) in some sort of offset or proportional system would require regular income disclosure between both CS payors. They may not even know each other or have ever met! And why should a biological parent be off the hook for full table CS just because their ex happened to break up with their subsequent partner?

                              Again, best interests of the child. Such a child is fortunate to have so many parental figures in their life (and at least one of them is hopefully a good influence too!) and should benefit from their financial support proportionate to each of their incomes, independently of the other. Think of it as meagre compensation for losing full access to not one, but two, important parental figures in their life.

                              Here's a theoretical idea that may help reframe the situation. Say there was life insurance in place so that CS from the biological parent was maintained in the event of his/her death, and sadly, it came to pass. Should that policy be retracted or reduced later because the surviving parent broke up with a subsequent partner?
                              Last edited by Rioe; 07-16-2012, 02:17 PM.

                              Comment

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