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  • 50/50 Child support payments

    Hello everyone.

    I have been seperated and divorced for 6 years. Things are going very well at the moment for the kids. They spend an honest 50/50 with my ex and I.

    My question is this, she works FT and likely makes 30K or less. I work the same but make much more, call it 100K. My question is this, I have a negotiated amount of CS - "80% of line 150" (or 80K income) Her income is not taken into effect at all. If the kids are with me 50%, and I am paying for their school trips, their hockey and equipment and so on... why am I paying nearly 1200 a month? Is this right?

    I hate rocking the boat and really I don't want to. But paying another mortgage amount every month, PLUS covering all the other expenses - WHY???

    Can someone please comment on whether this is correct or please give me your thoughts.

    Cheers.

  • #2
    Go to Mysupportcalculator.ca and it will give you a way to easily play with the numbers. What does it say in your Agreement? If you are paying nearly 1200 a month...it looks like you are paying Full table child support on 80,000 for 2 kids. Is this correct? If you were paying child support in a shared custody situation, you would take what you owe her according to the Guidelines and then subtract what she would be paying you according to the Guidelines. If you are paying on only 80,000...you are basically deducting 20,000 of child support owed (which would compensate for part or most of her salary depending on how much she makes). If you change your Agreement, she will likely want you to include your full salary at 100 and she at 30 for a shared custody arrangement. Your child support payment would go down by a couple hundred dollars a month. Hockey ect. are usually section 7 (some may argue) and are generally paid in proportion to your incomes. Hope that helps somewhat. On a different note...boats that are currently sailing smoothly do not have legal bills....rocking boats rack up HUGE legal fees (might not be worth it...just saying).

    Comment


    • #3
      If you have 50/50 you pay offset. Thats the difference between what you pay her and what she pays you. Say you would pay 1200 a month and she would pay you 600. You then pay her 600 a month.

      S7 is calculated as a % if shes making 30 and you 80 you calculate it as 30 + 80 = 110 then 80 / 110 = 72% of the net cost.

      Then theres the whole issue of who claims what on taxes...

      Comment


      • #4
        You did get yourself into a bit of a weird system. How did you end up there? Did you have an $80k income at the time and less than 50-50 and it just never got updated?

        Here is the "typical" system used in Ontario.

        Your CS table amount on $100k is $1416 a month.
        Her CS table amount on $30k is $438 a month.

        By the usual offset system, you should be paying her the difference, or $978 a month. You pay her, she pays you, and the difference exchanges hands to make it simpler.

        By the fairer half-offset system, you should be paying her half the difference, or $489 a month. You add your CS amounts together and each take half, so you are each supporting the children on the same amount of money, $927.

        I think judges go for the first system because they aren't mathematicians, and because they feel it's important to even out the households better.

        The standard section 7 system is to cover additional, extraordinary expenses, such as childcare and braces, proportional to income. So you would pay 77% and she would pay 23%.

        If you are paying ALL the s7 expenses, and CS calculated on an $80k income while she pays nothing even though you have 50-50, then yes, this may be worth rocking the boat to get put to a normal, fairer system.

        The key point is MAY. You have to sit down and crunch some numbers, and decide if the money you would save every month is worth the possible cost to you in legal fees. How old are the children? How much time left in CS do you have? Did you agree to the non-standard system in the first place and have now changed your mind, or did it start out done right and just never got updated with changes in income and access arrangements?

        If the latter case, it would be well worth it to approach your ex, indicate that you would like to update the CS arrangement to reflect the current access schedule and both your incomes. She would not have much of a legal leg to stand on if she tried to fight that and it should not cost you much money.

        Comment


        • #5
          Yes, you are paying too much cs, by about $175 a month.

          But also, with offset cs, the 'kid-spend' on regular expenses should be equal in both households. The offset payment makes that possible. Kid-spend on extraordinary expenses should still be proportional.
          It sounds like your spend is too high....
          Last edited by dinkyface; 03-28-2015, 02:29 PM.

          Comment


          • #6
            For the sake of comparison you would pay 790$ in Quebec. Not really negotiable.

            Comment


            • #7
              You don't "pay off set". A judge can consider paying offset. Its not automatic. You have to prove higher costs associated with the access...

              Comment

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