Determining Support

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Veryconfused

New member
Hello,
Looking for thoughts on this scenario:

  • 3 kids under 13
  • lives with each parent 50%, week on week off
I make 70k
Spouse 30K

How does one calculate child support and spousal?

appreciate any info
 
CS is the easy part, there are table amounts and one parent would then pay the difference (offset) to the other.

Spousal support is a whole other story. It is not granted on a needs only basis there are many factors involved first of which is entitlement. Might be a good idea to start here Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines


Next you have range (time) and amount. Below is the calculation in its most simplistic form but there are many other factors to take into account. There are some in the forums that would be much better able to assist in making a proper calculation.

Taken from the web.... https://www.divorcemate.com/Content/Pdfs/Articles/SSAG_Paper_0906.pdf

"Determine the range of spousal support amounts that would be required to leave the lower income recipient
spouse with between 40% and 46% of the parties’ combined Individual Net Disposable Incomes (“INDI”):
Typical Sole Custody and Shared Custody*:
Payor’s INDI = CSG Income – Child Support (Basic Table* + share of Special Expenses)
– Taxes/Deductions + Gov’t Benefits/Credits – Spousal Support
Recipient’s INDI** = CSG Income – Child Support (Notional Basic Table* + share of Special Expenses) –
Taxes/Deductions + Gov’t Benefits/Credits + Spousal Support"

* For shared custody, the full amount of Basic Table Child Support according to the CSG is deducted from each party’s INDI in order to
determine the setoff amount under s.9(a) of the CSG (ie. the difference between the parties’ respective basic Table amounts). The
recipient’s Child Support is accordingly no longer notional in a shared custody arrangement. In light of the S.C.C. decision, Contino v.
Leonelli-Contino, 2005 SCC 63, the setoff amount may need to be adjusted in accordance with s. 9(b) and (c) of the CSG.
** The child support paid by the payor to the recipient is not included in the recipient’s INDI."
 
Child Support is easy: if you each have the kids 50% of the time, the default for you is what's called offset, in which each parent pays the other one the amount of child support appropriate for his/her income. The difference between what you pay and what s/he pays is what actually changes hands. You can find out how much you should pay your ex and how much s/he should pay you by plugging the appropriate info in here:

Child Support Table Look-up

Spousal support is all negotiated, there are no hard and fast rules. I'll let others weigh in on different ways to determine whether spousal support is appropriate (it's not automatic, unlike child support) and how to calculate the amount).
 
Youre also responsible for a proportionate share of extra-ordinary costs like education, medical and activity costs. Medical, daycare and post secondary are necessary but additional things like sports or artistic programs would be negotiated.
 
Child support for shared custody is NOT easy.

People often default to the offset calculation because it is easy, but it is not fair or appropriate. An actual calculation of CS for shared custody involves an extensive analysis of the comparative standards of living between the two households. This involves some pretty serious paperwork.

However, offset is just as fair as half-offset, or any other arbitrary figure. In fact, in terms of arbitrary figures, straight offset is probably about as off of the "real" value as one can get other than just ordering one parent to pay table support to the other.

It is kinda like S7 expenses. It is easy to change the word "extraordinary" into "extracurricular", but it sure as hell isn't fair.
 
The vast majority of shared parenting situations use the offset calculation, as far as I am aware. Janus is right that it's not absolutely rigid and there is some leeway in law, but if you're planning to calculate it some other way, be prepared for an uphill battle. You need some pretty strong justification for departing from offset.

Of course, what you say (on paper) and what you do (in practice) may be two different things. I have a divorced friend with shared parenting whose order specifies offset, but in practice, he and his ex don't actually give each other money every month because their incomes are very close and they figure that things equal out over time - he takes the kids Christmas shopping, she buys new shoes, etc. However, this only works because they have a (mostly) co-operative relationship. If his ex wanted to insist on offset, she has the legal paper to back it up.

The point of CS is to make sure that children benefit equally from the economic resources of both parents. In a situation like you describe, where Parent A is earning more than twice as much as Parent B, Parent A should be prepared to pony up quite a bit every month, no matter whether they use offset or some other method. Of course, Parent A is not going to like this.
 
Veryconfused said:
Hello,
Looking for thoughts on this scenario:

  • 3 kids under 13
  • lives with each parent 50%, week on week off
I make 70k
Spouse 30K

How does one calculate child support and spousal?

appreciate any info
Click to expand...

MySupportCalculator.ca says for something similar:

(High) Range:

$268 a month in SS (6 to 14 years)
$765 a month in CS

Low, and Mid listed SS at $0. They each listed CS at $765 a month.

You should try it out yourself at MySupportCalculator.ca and input the real dates and other info. I guessed at length of marriage. So that may skew the SS calculation.

Good Luck!
Tayken
 
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