Are you curious about how much child support you should receive each month? Or, on the flip-side, whether you’re paying more than you should be?
Look to the Federal Child Support Guidelines for what’s often a definitive answer.
In a common two-family set up where:
- The kids live with one parent more than 60% of the time;
- The other parent earns a full-time salary.
It’s likely the only three things you’ll need to know are:
- How many kids do you have?
- How much did the paying parent earn last year?
- Where does the paying parent live?
With these three facts, you can look up what the monthly support payments are likely to be. The Federal Child Support Guidelines includes tables specifying how much child support should be paid. Each province has its own table, and the tables vary based on the number of dependent children.
In an example where the paying parent earned $61,000.00 last year and pays support for only one kid, we can look up the appropriate table from Canada’s Justice of Laws website. It will look something like this:
In the top-right corner you’ll see that we’re checking the table for Saskatchewan. Underneath the province, you can see this applies to one child cases. Just match the relevant number in the Income column to find the corresponding amount of monthly child support.
If you earned somewhere between the Income levels set out then there’s a percentage calculation you can do to get the exact amount. However, you don’t have to do this calculation yourself. The government has an online calculator that you can use. You can find the calculator here.
Note that this won’t work for all situations. It may not apply if the paying parent earns more than $150,000.00 annually or has income that fluctuates significantly year to year. It also doesn’t include what are referred to as “Section 7” expenses. Those are special or extraordinary childcare expenses, like necessary and uninsured dental work, that both parents are expected to contribute to. This will be explained more in a later article.
If you have any questions about child support, or about family law in general, shoot us an e-mail or give us a call: we’d love to help!
This article is of a general nature only. It is based upon laws and policies in effect as of the date published, which may change. It is not intended to be relied upon or taken as legal advice or opinion. You should consult with your lawyer to confirm the current state of the law and obtain advice specific to your situation.