Key Takeaway

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Child Support helps ensure your kid’s basic needs are met even after separation. It provides financial stability that contributes to the overall wellbeing and development. It is each parent’s responsibility to support their kids financially.

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Fact Sheet Child Support

Child support agreements and orders

It is not always possible to avoid court, especially if someone is hiding financial information, or if there is family violence or a significant power imbalance between parents. You should seek legal help if this is your situation or if you can’t agree on a child support amount. 

Otherwise, it is usually better if you can work out an agreement, because court is 

  • expensive, 
  • stressful and 
  • time consuming. 


Most people are able to work out their child support agreement without going to court. See Child support agreements and orders  for more information.

  • A judge might change an agreement if they find out one of you did not fully disclose your sources of income 
  • Financial disclosure is an ongoing obligation, this means you have to keep the other parent updated on changes to your finances

  • Find out which guidelines apply to you, Federal or Provincial/Territorial 
  • Judges will not go below guidelines unless there is and exception such as undue hardship or you’ve made alternative reasonable arrangements

  • Try to work out how you will decide what extra expense are reasonable and how you will divide them

  • It is best to have a written agreement so everyone is clear on what was agreed to. You can get professional help to negotiate and write your agreement.

  • Get independent legal advice from a lawyer or other qualified legal professional, this is to make sure your agreement is legal and fair, and to check that you fully understand the agreement

  • Child support agreement can have tax implications 
  • You can also ask an accountant to go through the paying parent’s finances to check they are complete

  • These agencies can collect the support on your behalf and take action to encourage parents to pay the support they owe

  • If child support is based off your income, and your income changes, you should update your agreement or order to reflect that change 
  • If your kids living arrangements change, such as if you go from one parent having most of the parenting time to parents having roughly equal time, you will have to reassess child support
Exceptions to child support guidelines

These are some cases when you can go below the guideline amounts.

 

You can make alternative arrangements to paying monthly child support as long as it results in support for your children that is still fair and reasonable. 

  • For example, giving your share of the family home to the other parent might be seen as a reasonable alternative to paying monthly child support or it might lower your payments. 
  • But remember if you are wanting a divorce, and are not following Child Support Guidelines, be prepared to explain how you are providing equivalent support in some other way.

In some situations, a parent might find they cannot afford to pay the amount required by the Child Support Guidelines. If they want to reduce their payments below Child Support Guidelines amounts, the paying parent must prove that the child support payments would cause “undue hardship.” Undue hardship means the required payments would cause a very big financial problem — not just hardship, but undue hardship.

  • It is not easy to claim undue hardship. You will have to go to court to do it and a judge will ask you to provide a lot of financial documents. The judge will compare the standard of living of your household and the other parent’s household, including the incomes of any new spouses. If you have a higher standard of living than the other parent’s household you cannot get a reduction in child support payments.

If a paying parent can prove that a child under the age of majority (18 or 19 depending on where you live) has voluntarily left parental control and is living a financially independent life as an adult, the child may not be entitled to benefit from child support.

  • Children are generally considered independent of their parents’ care and control when:
  • The child lives with a partner who provides for or helps to provide for their needs
  • The child has moved out from their parents’ home and refuses to return. If they left because of violence or other intolerable conditions, they may still be entitled to benefit from support. 
  • The child lives on their own, maintains a job and pays his or her own bills without relying on money from his or her parents

This applies to children who are still dependent because of illness, disability or they are going to school. A judge might order child support different than the guideline amount based on: 

  • The child’s needs, means (do they have an income?) and other circumstances
  • The ability of each parent to contribute financially

A judge might order a different amount than the guidelines say if the paying parent earns over $150,000.

Parents have the primary responsibility for paying child support but a step-parent or other guardian may have a responsibility to pay child support even if they no longer live with the other parent. It’s a good idea to get legal advice to see if you are responsible for paying child support as a step parent.

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