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  • Ex going back to school

    Ex and I have 50/50, I pay her offset plus my share of extracurriculars and daycare.

    I approached her about her inflating the kids extracurricular costs and have proof of all expenses , she owes $700 plus to date. Our agreement states if I overpay then she must repay me immediately however, she refused and said I quote" you will be paying me a lot more in September because I decided to quit my job and go back to school for two years to be a self employed accountant and I will be seeking full child support as my income will be zero".

    Can she do that? Our incomes are pretty much equal, I make 5k more a year and I still have 20k in student loans to pay off.

    She is quitting a stable job with the school board that has a pension and great benefits to go back to school. She says she has no money but just bought a 4 bedroom house and is going to Spain for two weeks on holidays. I don't think I could afford renting a two bedroom and paying her full child support and daycare and extracurriculars, please help i need some guidance.

  • #2
    Yes she can quit her job. But that doesn’t waive her child support obligations (which if you are 50/50 parenting time makes an even weaker case for full child support). If child support was already Ordered she would have to bring a Motion to Change and prove that quitting her job is ultimately in the children’s best interest. If she won’t be coming to court with clean hands (as you say you have proof of inflated expenses) she may just be bluffing to see if you will file first. It would probably be worth a couple hundred dollars for to to get advice from a good lawyer about how to protect yourself. If they agree, you could for example not pay Section 7 (or, even better, pay 50% of the Section 7 you are supposed to pay) until the documented $700 overpayment is clearer.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Daddyof2 View Post
      you will be paying me a lot more in September because I decided to quit my job and go back to school for two years to be a self employed accountant and I will be seeking full child support as my income will be zero".

      Try to communicate with her in writing. If you can get her to write something like that it will be gold.


      Maybe write back:


      "Dear ex, do you intend to work while you are in school or are you planning on devoting yourself to your studies? Surely you do not intend for your income to be zero.

      Perhaps it would be better to go to school once our kid(s) have grown up."



      Can she do that? Our incomes are pretty much equal, I make 5k more a year and I still have 20k in student loans to pay off.
      She can certainly go back to school, what she cannot do is lower her income. A judge will declare that her income has remained the same through a process known as "imputing income".


      The 20k in student loans will be addressed through equalization, not support.

      Comment


      • #4
        Going back to school is a choice. While it may have some benefit to the person going to school, that benefit must be weighed against the best interests of the children.


        There is case law on this point:


        8. It is laudable that the mother has decided to return to school. However, without appearing harsh or critical, this is a decision that cannot be made necessarily without impacting on her ongoing obligation to continue to contribute to supporting the child. Thankfully, as indicated, she had an ongoing network of financial support which helped her make this decision.
        9. Accordingly, when the Court considers all of the circumstances, and the context of what was going on in the lives of both parties in the years 2012 and 2013, it would not be unfair to impute income to the mother in 2012 at $45,512.00, and not $25,000.00 as she has claimed.

        https://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/do...resultIndex=19


        I recall another case where the sexes were reversed, and the outcome was similar if not the same.


        But yeah, going back to school does not absolve one of their obligations to support their child(ren). Should they try, you simply argue that they are capable of earning what they have historically earned, and that such income be imputed to them.

        Comment

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