New Federal Child Support Tables Announced
December 4, 2011The Federal Department of Justice recently announced changes to the Federal Child Support Guideline Tables, effective December 31, 2011. The amendments were registered on November 17, 2011, and will appear in Part II of the Canada Gazette on December 7, 2011.
It appears from the calculations that some of the table amounts have gone up, while others have gone down; it all depends on the province, income and number of children.
To find out whether you are affected by the new table amounts, please go to the Resources Page, and click on “NEW: JusticeCanada – Child Support Online Lookup”. This will link you to JusticeCanada’s website, where you can use the online calculator provided by the Federal Department of Justice if you want to calculate a child support amount under the new tables.
Please be aware that these changes will not only affect the Child Support Guideline Tables, but will also impact spousal support calculations using the “With Child Support” and “Custodial Payor” formulae under Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines.
Unfortunately, in order for the new support amounts to apply to your case, you need to either enter into a new agreement with your spouse, or you need a court order. In other words, the new amounts will not be triggered “automatically”, and the Family Responsibility Office will continue to enforce support at the existing levels.
Therefore and unless you already have an agreement or court order which provides for an adjustment to support retroactive to January of each year, you will either have to wait until the applicable adjustment period as set out in your court order or agreement, or you will have to seek the consent of your spouse for an immediate adjustment to support.
Please contact us if you would like us to assist you with these calculations and their impact on your particular situation.