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  • Child Support

    I am divorced with a separation agreement that states that I pay child support based on the Child Support Guidelines. I have just found out that I will be laid off indefinitely next Friday April 17th. I immediately contacted my ex-wife to let her know that I will be unable to pay child support until I get another job. I explained that I am already looking and that either by EI benefits or another job, or jobs that I would pay her once again as stated in the Child Support Guidelines. I received a call from her saying that I can't just do that and there is a protocol for this. What protocol?

  • #2
    The protocol is to seek to have the order varied relative to your present income.
    You could start the motion to vary prior to the lay off (to avoid arrears) and ask that the courts set the dates for when CS will be reduced due to the lay off.
    I would suspect that the courts would set CS based on your EI amounts until you gain another job.
    At which time you would again have to ask the courts to vary CS.
    If the ex was more co-operative you simply could do this without the orders but seeing as she is being difficult you will need an actual court order to change the CS amount even temporarily.

    Perhaps you could again ask for a variance in CS relative to your actual income, the laws are very clear on this. CS is geared to income period!
    If you explain this perhaps she too would come to understand that it is OK to make temporary changes until you get a new job. Of if the new job too is not the same income as the previous one she'll have to accept that CS will change. It is not just a case of increasing that is OK. She has to accept that there will be times when it will decrease as well in these economic times.

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    • #3
      Thankyou for your response. I will try and discuss this with my ex this evening. I would like to think that we can do this without wasting the courts time, and money. It was my understanding that Child Support Guidlines when followed provide us a legal basis for people to follow. Whether we believe the guidelines are fair or not (especially when your ex makes almost double your income). Thankyou for confirming my beliefs and the steps I will need to take if my ex will not understand. Too all those in my children's and my situation, I hope life becomes kind too you.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by dmbranks View Post
        ...I immediately contacted my ex-wife to let her know that I will be unable to pay child support until I get another job.
        One thought on this. While you are not working, you will be supporting yourself - eating, driving, keeping a roof over your head, so I don't think that paying no support is an option as you are not doing that with yourself. Though CS is geared to income, I don't think 0 is reasonable even if you make 0 income temporarily - but a significant reduction is reasonable as it reflects what is going on - you will be with less and as is normal so will your kids.

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        • #5
          I don't want to take this off track, but I was in court recently and despite the fact that my income has dropped fairly significantly, the judge was adamant that I pay CD and S.7 based off last years income.

          Do you know of any precedents I can cite to show that it's based on current income, not last years income?

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          • #6
            OntarioDad,
            My partner always pays his CS based on the last years earnings.
            It was always set very early in the year based on his final pay-stub.
            This year there will be a change to July 1st as last year Spousal was reduced and CS adjusted for that time.
            The Judge felt that a July 1st - July 1st cycle will reflect will the actual tax assessment from Rev. Canada.
            The Child Tax Credit and GST are done this way also.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Suchislife View Post
              OntarioDad,
              ...The Judge felt that a July 1st - July 1st cycle will reflect will the actual tax assessment from Rev. Canada.
              The Child Tax Credit and GST are done this way also.
              That sounds like a good idea and I was planning on proposing that for my agreement. This make sense to me, adjust once per year based on actual income from the previous year. In the end it all works out that you pay based on what you actually made, of course one year out of synch, but it still all works out.

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              • #8
                So if you adjust once per year as suggested, loose your job, live on your line of credit, incurr interest charges on your line of credit, are you then entitled to receive the overpayment back the next year? (and what about covering half the cost of your interest charges on the line of credit once you base your CS payment on this years total income?)

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by dmbranks View Post
                  So if you adjust once per year as suggested, loose your job, live on your line of credit, incurr interest charges on your line of credit, are you then entitled to receive the overpayment back the next year?...
                  No, there was no overpayment, you are paying based on what you made the year before and the next adjustment will be based on your reduced income, that is the method that was described. You adjust CS every year based on the previous year. If you loose your job etc, and don't make much that year, the next year when you adjust, your CS will be very low, even if that next year you start making more money again. You are always one year out of synch, but it is fair as you always adjust based on what you actually made, but you are out of synch by a year, so you have to be prepared for sudden changes to your income as the CS is only effected up to a year later. If you feel that you want to keep in synch, you can use a different method of adjusting backwards. At the time of adjustment you decide what CS you should have paid for the previous year based on actual income, and then settle up for the previous year (pay or get money back), and then you can guess at the CS payments for the next year. That is more complicated perhaps. Both ways are fair in that you pay CS based on what you actually make, just one is a year behind.


                  Originally posted by dmbranks View Post
                  ... (and what about covering half the cost of your interest charges on the line of credit once you base your CS payment on this years total income?)
                  I am not sure what you meant here - do mean that the line of credit is considered income? It is not income and has no effect on CS amount. If you mean that you should be able to deduct the interest from the CS, then no you can't - whatever CS you pay it is up to you to get the money and using credit is your problem and does not change the CS you should pay.

                  Comment

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