Special expenses example (sole custody)
Michelle and Patrick agree that a day-care “net” expense of $450 a month is necessary. (The amount is “net” because they must consider the tax deduction Patrick will receive for child-care expenses, and the increase he will receive in the National Child Benefit.) They also agree that a sum must be added to the support amount of $926 that Michelle pays. Because parents normally divide the cost of the expense in proportion to their respective incomes, Michelle and Patrick calculate how much of the $450 in day-care expenses each parent will pay. They first calculate the total income of both parents by adding both their incomes ($50,000 plus $40,000 = $90,000). Then, to find out how much Michelle would pay, they would divide Michelle's income by the total income and multiply the result by the expense amount.
$50,000 divided by $90,000, multiplied by $450, equals Michelle's share of the expense:
$50,000 ÷ $90,000 × $450 = $250
Patrick's share will be the difference between Michelle's share and the total expense. Therefore, Michelle would pay $250 and Patrick would contribute $200 to cover the total expense of $450. Michelle's $250 for child care expenses would be added to the table amount of support of $926 for a total amount of child support of $1,176 per month.
