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Which rules apply to child support in BC?
Child support in British Columbia is calculated under the Federal Child Support Guidelines, whether the parents were married or not. The Guidelines are meant to produce consistent, predictable amounts.
How is the table amount worked out?
The paying parent’s annual income and the number of children are used to find a monthly figure in the BC table. Income usually starts from line 15000 of the parent’s tax return, with adjustments in some cases. The federal Department of Justice publishes an online lookup for the tables.
What are section 7 expenses?
On top of the table amount, parents share certain special or extraordinary expenses, generally in proportion to their incomes. These can include child care needed for work or school, health costs not covered by insurance, some educational programs, post-secondary costs and extraordinary extracurricular activities.
An expense has to be reasonable and necessary, taking into account the child’s interests and the family’s finances.
What changes with shared or split parenting?
If each parent has the child at least 40 percent of the time, the calculation can take both incomes into account, often beginning by setting each parent’s table amount against the other’s.
Where each parent has at least one of the children living with them most of the time, known as split parenting, each parent’s obligation is calculated and the difference is paid.
What if a parent’s income is hard to pin down?
Self-employment, cash income, dividends from a private company and deliberate underemployment all raise questions. A court can impute income, meaning it attributes a realistic income to a parent who is not earning what they reasonably could, or whose tax return does not reflect their real resources.
Can child support be changed?
Yes, when circumstances change, for example a new job, a job loss or a shift in parenting time. Parents should exchange updated income information regularly, and any change should be recorded formally.
Ongoing support and arrears can be enforced through the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program.
This guide is general information about the law in British Columbia. It is not legal advice, the law can change, and how it applies depends on your circumstances. The first consultation is free, so ask.