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Difference between revisions of "Child Support Guidelines in BC"
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Child Support Guidelines in BC (view source)
Revision as of 21:47, 17 September 2014
, 21:47, 17 September 2014→Where can I find the child support guidelines for BC?
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The Department of Justice has published a helpful child support calculator, [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/fcy-fea/lib-bib/toolutil/apps/look-rech/index.asp click here] | The Department of Justice has published a helpful child support calculator, [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/fcy-fea/lib-bib/toolutil/apps/look-rech/index.asp click here] | ||
== How do child support payments affect income tax? == | |||
In 1997, the federal government changed the income tax rules about child support payments. Under these new rules: | |||
* payors cannot deduct child support from their income; and, | |||
* recipients do not have to report it as income. In other words, there are no tax consequences | |||
from paying or receiving child support. | |||
What can happen if child support isn’t paid? | |||
The Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP) is a government agency that enforces child support obligations in orders and agreements. FMEP keeps track of what the recipient is owed by the payor based on the | |||
order or agreement, as well as the interest owed on any arrears. | |||
Both payors and recipients can register an order or agreement for child support with FMEP. Most of the time, it is recipients who sign up with FMEP. When this happens, the payor will be required to send all support payments to FMEP, | |||
which will record the amounts paid and forward them to the recipient. | |||
If a payor does not pay as required by an order or agreement, FMEP may take steps to recover that money. FMEP may take some or all the payor’s income (such as wages, pensions, income tax refunds, GST credits, workers’ compensation | |||
benefits or rental income) or the payor’s bank accounts. | |||
FMEP may require anyone who owes the payor money (such as an employer or the government) to pay it directly to them. | |||
FMEP may also register a lien against a payor’s land or personal property, or obtain a court order to seize and sell the payor’s property. If the payor owes more than $2,000, FMEP may report him or her to a credit bureau, making it harder for the payor to get a credit card or a loan. If the payor owes more than $3,000, FMEP may instruct ICBC to refuse to issue or renew the payor’s driver’s licence, and ask the federal government to suspend or refuse to issue or renew the payor’s passport or aviation or marine licence. | |||
If the payor owns a corporation, or a major part of one, FMEP may make the corporation responsible for the child support payments. FMEP will also charge a payor a default fee if he or she misses or is late on two payments within | |||
the same calendar year. This money goes to FMEP to help the government cover the costs of running the program. | |||
== Other rules about Child Support == | |||
=== What if a child support recipient is receiving income assistance?=== | |||
In order to be eligible for income or disability assistance from the Ministry of Social Development, a person who is or might be entitled to receive child support is required to sign a form called an “Assignment of Maintenance Rights.” Signing this form gives the Ministry the right to try to get the other parent to pay child support. This is called assigning the right to child support. | |||
A recipient who assigns his or her right to child support to the Ministry may be allowed to keep some of the child support money that the Ministry collects from the other parent. You can find out more from your caseworker. | |||
Once the right to child support is assigned, the Ministry, instead of the recipient, has the right: | |||
* to go to court to ask for a child support order; | |||
* to review the amount of child support paid, and to go to court to ask to change a child support order; and, | |||
* to enforce the order, if necessary. | |||
The Ministry may do these things without asking you. | |||
:'''Important note:''' A child support order obtained by the Ministry will continue after you stop collecting income assistance. | |||
=== What happens if the payor dies? === | |||
Under the Family Law Act, if the person paying child support dies, the recipient can apply for an order that the child support payments continue and be paid from the payor’s estate. This can be | |||
required whenever the court makes an order about child support. | |||
=== What about life insurance? === | |||
Under the Family Law Act, the court can also make an order that someone who is required to pay child support must have a life insurance policy. The order can say who must pay the policy premiums and who the insurance money | |||
must be paid to if the payor dies. | |||
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[People's Law School]], 2014}} | {{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[People's Law School]], 2014}} | ||