Child Support Guidelines

British Columbia Family Maintenance Enforcement Program

November 9, 2009
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General Overview

Parents have a responsibility to financially support their children. The child support guidelines are the rules for calculating the amount one parent must pay to the other parent to help support their child or children.

The guidelines include tables setting out monthly child support amounts. These table amounts are based on two main factors:

the paying parent's level of income, and
the number of children eligible for child support.

In almost all cases, judges are required to follow the guidelines to determine the amount of child support payments. This makes it easier for more parents to settle child support out of court. If both parents know in advance what a judge is likely to order for child support, it may be possible for them to come to an agreement on a suitable amount without having to go to court.

If you have a child support order or agreement made before the guidelines came into effect, you may choose to let it stay the way it is now, or you may decide to change it to follow the guidelines.

For child support orders made as part of a divorce under the Divorce Act, the guidelines came into effect May 1, 1997. For child support orders made under the Family Relations Act, the guidelines came into effect April 14, 1998.

However, you should know that all orders made or changed after April 30, 1997, fall under new Income Tax rules.

How to Change a Child Support Order or Agreement to Follow the Guidelines

To change a child support order or agreement under the new child support guidelines, it works like this.

You and the other parent can change your existing child support order or agreement to the guideline amount at any time if you both agree.

If you both agree to change a child support agreement, you will need to revise the existing agreement or write a new one. It's also a good idea to file it with the court. Once it's filed, you can ask the court to enforce it for you if you run into difficulty later on.

If you both agree to change a court order, you will need to apply to the court that made the original order. You will not usually be required to appear in court to have the order changed.

If you and the other parent do not agree – for example, if you want to change the existing order or agreement to the guideline amount but the other parent does not – there are people who may be able to help. They include private mediators and Family Justice Counsellors. However, mediation is not appropriate for all parents.

If, after mediation, you still cannot agree to change your order or agreement, you may choose to apply to the court and ask a judge to change it. Remember that if you do go to court, in almost all cases the judge must apply the child support guidelines. That means your current child support payments could be increased or decreased depending on the income of the paying parent and the circumstances of your case.

Remember that new Income Tax rules apply to all child support orders or agreements made or changed on or after May 1, 1997.

It is a good idea to get legal advice before attempting to change your order or agreement. If you don’t know a lawyer, try calling the Lawyer Referral Service. They will give you the name of a family law lawyer to call for a 30 minute consultation at a cost of $10.00.

If you are receiving BC Benefits – and you'd like to change your existing child support order or agreement – please contact your Family Maintenance Worker.

Other parents can contact a Child Support Clerk. Child Support Clerks are available throughout the province to provide parents with information about the child support guidelines. They may also be able to help you calculate child support amounts and prepare agreements or applications for child support orders.

Most book or stationery stores carry the Divorce Guide, which provides set-by-step instructions on how to complete a do-it-yourself divorce and the required Divorce Forms.

Income Tax Rules

Changes to the federal Income Tax Act mean that all child support orders made or changed on or after May 1, 1997 fall under new Income Tax rules.

Under these new rules:

parents paying child support cannot deduct the child support from their income
parents receiving child support do not have to report the child support as income

The new Income Tax rules do not apply to spousal support.

If you have a child support order or agreement made before May 1st, 1997, and you want the new income tax rules to apply to your order or agreement – but you do not want to change the amount of your child support payments – you can do so if both you and the other parent agree.

You and the other parent will simply need to sign a special form – called an "Election for Child Support Payments" and forward it to Revenue Canada. These forms are available from any Revenue Canada office.

If only one parent wants to change to the new tax rules, this parent must apply to court to change the child support order or agreement. Remember, though, that in almost all cases, the judge must apply the child support guidelines This means your child support payments could be either increased or decreased depending on the income of the paying parent and the circumstances of the case, even though you only wanted the tax rules to change.

Document Revised: November 1, 2005