Calculating Child Support in BC
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This page from JP Boyd on Family Law—and other pages from this Wikibook that discuss BC family law litigation topics—are under editorial review to provide more thorough, current, and practical guidance. Since 2020, procedures, forms, and laws have changed significantly. While gross inaccuracies have been corrected, some details may still be outdated. These pages were not included in the 2024 print edition, and have been highlighted in orange where they appear in the navigation menu on this website. |
Child Support in BC from People's Law School is no longer available. For updated coverage of this topic, see Dial-A-Law's page on child support.
What is the amount of child support based on?
Whether you and the other parent have an agreement or you are going to ask for a court order, the amount of child support is based on the Child Support Guidelines. Because the Guidelines apply to everyone, many parents agree to an amount of child support based on the Guidelines, without going to court.
For most people, the Child Support Guidelines tables set out how much is owing based on two things: the income of the person paying child support, and the number of children for which child support is paid for. The exceptions to this rule are discussed in the Child Support Guidelines section.
Do parents and stepparents have to pay the same amount?
The Divorce Act does not say that the child support obligation of stepparents is different than the obligation of spouses. However, the Child Support Guidelines say that the amount a stepparent must pay can be reduced to account for the payments made by the child’s other parent.
Under the Family Law Act, the child support obligation of parents comes first, the obligation of people who are guardians but not parents comes second, and the obligation of stepparents comes last. The amount payable by a stepparent will take into account:
- the child support paid by the child’s other parents and guardians;
- the child’s standard of living when the child lived with the stepparent; and,
- the length of time the child lived with the stepparent.
| This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by People's Law School, 2014. |
Child Support in BC from People's Law School is no longer available. For updated coverage of this topic, see Dial-A-Law's page on child support.
 Basics of Child Support in BC © People's Law School is, except for the images, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.
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