Difference between revisions of "Spousal and Child Support (3:X)"

Child support is intended to be used to pay most of a child’s day-to-day expenses. The amount of child support payable is determined under the Federal Child Support Guidelines, which set support levels based on the payor’s income and the number of children to be supported and the parenting arrangements in place. Several web sites, including J.P. Boyd’s helpful site, offer online child support calculators (see [[Governing Legislation and Resources for Family Law (3:I)#3. J.P. Boyd’s BC Family Law Web Resource | J.P. Boyd’s BC Family Law Web Resource]]). If the paying parent lives in B.C., the child support is determined by the B.C. Child Support Tables; the appropriate table is for the province where the paying parent lives, not where the child lives.  

The Court may also provide for “special or extraordinary” expenses in a Child Support Order (see s 7 of the ''Federal Child Support Guidelines''), in addition to the basic child support order, requiring payment for other expenses such as child care, health related expenses (e.g. orthodontic treatment, hearing  aids, prescription  drugs, speech therapy, contact lenses and professional counselling), expenses for child care in order to maintain employment (see ''Bially v Bially'' (1997), 28 RFL (4th) 418  (Sask.  QB)), extraordinary educational expenses for primary and secondary education, expenses for post-secondary education, and expenses for extracurricular activities.  

Expenses for extracurricular activities must be reasonable having regard to the parents’ means, but need not be restricted to a special talent of the child. “Extraordinary” is also determined by what would be extraordinary in a household with a similar income; it depends on the lifestyle of the family.