According to both the Federal and Alberta Child Support Guidelines, the payment of child support is meant to ensure that a child benefits from the financial means of both parents despite separation. It is also meant to reduce conflict and tension between parents by making the calculation of child support orders more objective.
Types of Child Support
There are two primary types of child support in Canada: 1) basic support as required under section 3 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines (FCSG) and, 2) special or extraordinary expenses under section 7 of the FCSG. Section 3 support is typically a monthly payment that is meant to cover the child’s day to day needs according to the parent’s income, whereas section 7 support goes beyond the regular needs of the child. Support under section 7 might be for things like school fees, the cost of organized sports or other extracurriculars, or medical expenses.
Determining the Amount of Child Support
The FCSG and the Alberta Child Support Guidelines determine a parent’s eligibility to receive child support, or their obligation to pay child support. There are many factors that go into the determination of child support under the guidelines but there are two primary categories that they fall under: 1) the parenting arrangement in place and 2) the income of the parent. The parenting arrangement will determine how child support is calculated by referring to the amount of time the child spends with each parent. The FCSG uses three terms to describe parenting arrangements: “sole custody,” “split custody” and “shared custody”. In short, these terms refer to the percentage of time that the child spends with you. These terms are described in more detail on the Government of Canada website.
Income is determined by referring to the tables in the FCSG. There is a table for each province which lists a range of incomes in one column and the corresponding monthly dollar amount that should be paid for child support. These tables also include a percentage that will be used to calculate additional child support where the income of a parent exceeds the range of income that the parent originally fit into.
That covers the basics of section 3 child support but what about special or extraordinary expenses under section 7? These are defined under the FCSG as expenses that are necessary for the best interests of the child and reasonable given the means of the parents and child. These expenses might include things that arise as a result of a job, an illness, a disability or educational and extracurricular expenses. The nature of special and extraordinary expenses makes the calculation one that will be unique for every family.
To help you get a better idea of how child support amounts are calculated, take a look at the following resources:
– A Step-by-Step Guide from the Government of Canada website
The Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP)
Either parent can register a child support order with Alberta’s Maintenance Enforcement Program. MEP is a free service that acts as a middleman to collect court-ordered child support and enforce court orders when necessary. This can be a good way to limit tension between parents by making the collection of money as objective as possible.
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