Key Takeaway
The easiest way to work out the basic amount of child support is to use the online calculator at the Child Support Lookup.
Most provinces and territories use the Federal Child Support Guidelines but some like Manitoba and Quebec have their own for certain circumstances. Be sure to get advice or check your provincial or territorial government family law information to find out. We will be talking about using the Federal Guidelines.
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The Federal Government has created the Federal Support Guidelines: Step-by-Step to help parents figure how much child support should be paid.
Provinces and territories have different tax systems so there are different calculations made depending on where you live.
Generally this is children resulting from the relationship, including adopted children, who are dependent either because they are under the age of majority (18 or 19 depending on where they are) or over the age of majority but unable to become independent because of disability, illness, or other reasons such as attending post-secondary school. If you aren’t sure, it is best to get some legal advice.
This determines which parent is the “paying parent” and which parent receives child support.
- Majority parenting time: If one parent spends most of the time with the children (more then 60%), then the parent who spends less time with the children is the one who pays support.
- Split parenting time: You have more than one child and each parent has majority parenting time with at least one child. You will each have to do the calculation to determine who pays what.
- Shared parenting time: If parents spend roughly the same amount of time with the child (at least 40% each). You will each have to do the calculation to determine who pays what.
If none of these match your situation, it is best to get some legal advice
To figure out child support you will have to know what the paying parent earns in a year – before the government taxes are taken off. This is “gross annual income.” It can be as simple as looking at your latest income tax statement or it can be complicated, especially if you are self-employed or your income is variable. It’s a good idea to get an accountant or legal help in these cases. Paying parents are required to provide uptodate and complete financial disclosure in order to ensure a fair agreement or order.
If you have split or shared parenting, both parents will need to provide financial disclosure.
The online calculator follows the Child Support Guidelines, which were created by the federal government so that parents know what is fair according to the law. The guidelines are based on what an average parent at each income level would usually spend on their children, if the parents were still together. However, this is only the basic amount of child support. Parents who have separated also have to calculate other types of expenses, which are known as special and extraordinary expenses.
Basic child support calculation when one parent has majority parenting time (see below for split and shared parenting):
To find out monthly child support payments using the calculator, follow these steps:
- Enter the annual income before taxes of the paying parent
- Enter the number of children involved
- Select the province where the paying parent lives
- Click on the “Lookup” button
- The monthly amount is displayed immediately in blue text
If one parent has the majority of the parenting time, then that’s it. If you have split or shared parenting see below.
Toolbox
Try the calculator on Child Support Lookup
Each parent uses the calculator for the number of kids that live the majority of the time with the other parent. The parent with the higher support payments would pay the difference between what they owe the other parent and what the other parent owes them.
Example: John and Helen have three children. When they separated, they agreed that two of the children would live with John most of the time, and the other child would live with Helen most of the time. Using the Child Support Online Lookup, they find out how much child support each of them would have to pay if they were the paying parent.
John enters his annual salary, and enters 1 child (the child not living with him).
Helen enters her salary and 2 children (the number of children not living with her).
The calculator says John should pay Helen $400 per month for the child in her care, and Helen should pay John $250 per month for the children in his care. But because John has to pay more, he is the paying parent.
To get the actual amount of child support he should pay Helen, they split the difference in the two amounts: $400 - $250 = $150. John has to pay Helen $150 per month
Both Parents use the calculator to calculate how much they would pay if they were the paying parent for all the children to be supported. Once you find out the child support monthly payments (as if each of you were the “paying parent”), then you split the difference between those two amounts.
The difference in the two amounts is what the higher income earner has to pay to the other parent. Here’s an example of how to do it: