When a couple with children separates, they might have questions about child support. What is it? Who must pay it? How is the amount calculated?
Definition of Child Support
Child support is money one parent pays to the other parent for the financial needs of children after the parents break up.
After a separation or divorce, both parents must continue to contribute to the needs of their children. This is mandatory. They can’t avoid this responsibility, even if they both agree to it.
Parent Who Pays Child Support
The parent who doesn’t have custody of the children pays child support to the other parent, even if the parent with custody has the higher income.
A parent might also have to pay child support to the other parent even if the parents have joint custody.
Two Different Support Payment Plans
The Quebec government has basic rules for calculating how much child support one parent must pay the other.
The federal government also has rules for calculating how much child support one parent must pay the other.
Which rules apply?
The Quebec rules on child support apply if both parents live in Quebec.
The federal rules on child support apply if
- a parent requests child support in a divorce case, AND
- one parent does not live in Quebec.
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Example 1 Maria and Claudio live in Quebec. They break up. Since Claudio has custody of the children, Maria must pay child support to Claudio. The Quebec rules on child support apply because both parents live in Quebec. Example 2 Heather and Jeremy are married and live in Quebec with their children. They break up. Heather moves back to Vancouver to live with her parents. With Jeremy’s consent, Heather takes the children with her. Jeremy files for divorce. Since he doesn’t have parenting time with the children, he will have to pay child support to Heather. The federal rules on child support apply in this situation because the parents are getting divorced and Heather does not live in Quebec. |
Divorce: Vocabulary Change in the LawSince March 1, 2021, the Divorce Act no longer uses the terms “custody” or “access”. The law now uses the term “parenting time” to describe a divorced parent’s relationship with a child of the marriage. For more information, see our article Divorce: What Is “Parenting Time” and What to Do When Moving. |
Child support amounts
If the Quebec rules on child support apply, parents must complete the Child Support Determination Form (also called Schedule I) to calculate the basic child support amounts.
If they both agree on the amounts, they can choose to complete just one form together.
If the federal rules on child support apply, parents should refer to the tables published by the federal government to determine the basic child support amounts.
Disagreement about the amount of child support payments
Parents don’t always end up with the same amount when filing out the child support form. For example, this can happen when parents don’t agree about:
- their income. For example, one parent may have undeclared income that the other wants to include in the calculation. Or, one parent may have quit their job and claim to have no income, while the other wants to include the income they had before quitting in the calculation.
- which children should be included in the calculation. For example, one parent wants to include a child over 18 on the form, while the other parent does not.
When parents can’t reach an agreement, a judge will decide the amount of child support that a parent has to pay.
Agreeing on a different child support amount
Parents can agree on a different child support amount than the one calculated using the official form. In this case, a judge will review their agreement to make sure it’s still in the children’s best interests.