Once you and the other parent have agreed where the children will live and for how much of the time, you can begin to work out a fair amount of child support. Depending on the parenting arrangement, it will be important to know what one or both parents earn in a year.

How do we calculate annual income?

To figure out child support you will have to know what the paying parent earns in a year – before the government taxes were taken off. This is “gross annual income.” The paying parent’s annual income can be figured out by:

• Using the amount on line 150 on your income tax return (or notice of assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency), and then minus any union dues from that amount
• Looking at your pay stubs for a full year and adding up what you were paid each month (before all the taxes were taken off)

How do we calculate child support when the children live mostly with one parent?

The parent who has the children most of the time will receive child support. The parent who doesn’t have the children most of the time is the paying parent.

Once you know how much the paying parent earns in a year, the easiest way to work out the basic amount of child support is to use the online calculator at the Child Support Lookup.

To find out monthly child support payments using the calculator, follow these steps:

• Enter the annual income before taxes of the paying parent (which you figured out above)
• 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

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.

Can the amount of child support differ from the table amount? YES. Not all families are alike and the amount of support may differ from the table amount because of:

• Special expenses of the child
• Court finds that the table amount would cause undue hardship
• Parent paying support contributes to the special needs or educational expenses of children over the age of majority
• Type of custody arrangement involves each parent having custody of a child (split custody) or the children spend 40% or more of their time with both parents (shared custody)
• Support payor’s income is over $150,000 a year
• Order or agreement contains special provisions which benefit the children
• Parents have negotiated an out-of-court agreement

What if the non-custodial parent is unemployed or can’t afford to pay very much?

Even if a parent or someone who stood in the place of a parent cannot afford to pay much, it’s important for the custodial parent to get an order as soon as possible. Sometimes there is a time limit in which you need to apply to the court. (If the parent’s financial situation improves at some point, you can always vary the order at a later date.)

What if the beneficiary is on income assistance?

Parents on income assistance who have custody of their children are expected to make reasonable efforts to get child support from the other parent. If they don’t have an order or agreement, they must give information about the other parent to the Department of Social Development who can help them get a voluntary support agreement.

If necessary, the Department can apply to the court for an order. The beneficiary (the person receiving the child support) should get legal advice before signing any agreement worked out on their behalf.

While they are on income assistance, the support payments will go to the Department and the beneficiary will get the regular benefit. Once they are no longer on assistance, the support payment will go directly to the beneficiary.

How do we calculate child support when parenting is shared?

A shared parenting arrangement (shared custody) is when the children live about the same amount of time with each of their parents over the course of a year. That means at least 40% of the time with each parent. If you agree that each of you has the children for about the same amount of time, the paying parent is usually the one who makes the most money. Just because the paying parent has the children for 40% or more of the time does not mean they should pay less in child support.

To figure out the amount of child support for a shared parenting arrangement, you start by putting the gross annual income of each parent into the Child Support Online Lookup, which is an online calculator. If you aren’t sure how to figure out “annual gross income,” see "How do we calculate annual income?" above. 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:

How do we calculate child support when parenting is split?

A split parenting arrangement is when there are two or more children and each parent provides primary care for one or more of the children, which means:

• One or more children live with one parent most of the time (more than 60% of the time in the year), and
• One or more children live with the other parent most of the time (more than 60% of the time in the year).

To calculate child support in the case of a split parenting arrangement, the first step is for each parent to use the Child Support Online Lookup as if they each had to pay child support. They would enter their annual income (see "How do we calculate annual income?" above), and the number of children who live with the other parent. The paying parent will be whoever has to pay more according to the child support calculator. However, the amount that parent has to pay is the difference between the two amounts they got for each parent. Here’s an example of how to do it:

Parents who have separated also have to calculate other types of expenses, which are known as special expenses.

How do we calculate other types of expenses for the children?

Before you agree on a final amount of child support, consider all of the other costs of raising your child or children. These are called special expenses. These types of expenses are not included in the basic child support amounts that you get if you use the online calculator. They should also be included in your child support agreement.

Special expenses are defined as:

• Necessary — because they are in a children’s best interests, and
• Reasonable — because they take into consideration how much the parents earn and what the family's spending patterns were before the separation.

Special expenses include the following:

• Child-care expenses that a parent with whom the children live faces as a result of the parent's job, illness, disability or educational requirements for employment.
• The portion of a parent's medical and dental insurance premiums that provides coverage for the children.
• The children’s healthcare needs over and above that covered by insurance (for example, orthodontics, counselling, medication, eye care and other items) that exceed $100 per year.
• The children’s extraordinary expenses for extracurricular activities.
• The children’s extraordinary expenses for primary and secondary education or other educational programs.
• The children’s expenses for post-secondary education.

You and the other parent are free to decide which expenses are reasonable and necessary. Once you do that, you can decide how much each of you will contribute to them. As a general rule, you would share the cost in proportion to your incomes, but you may agree to another arrangement.

To share expenses in proportion to your incomes means each of you pay a portion of the cost — a percentage amount — equal to what you earn. For example, if both parents have the same income, they would each pay for one-half (50%) of the cost of the activity. Here’s an example of how to do the calculation if you don’t earn the same amount:

Keep in mind that special and extraordinary expenses have to be reasonable based on the parents’ financial situation and the children’s needs.

What should we do once we agree on an amount?

Once you and the other parent agree on an amount of child support, including special expenses, you should:

• Write up the details of your agreement
• Ask a Family Advice Lawyer to review it if you have any doubts. These lawyers provide free general legal information for up to two hours on family law matters. (Call toll-free to book an appointment: 1-855-266-0266.)
• Each sign it — with two different witnesses watching each of you sign
• Ask the witnesses to sign the document. Anyone who you trust can be a witness as long as he or she is 19 years of age or older and mentally competent
• Put it in a safe place or ask the staff at the Court of Queen's Bench to “file” it. For a video about common mistakes people make when filing documents with the court, click here.

You don’t have to file your child support agreement at the court. So long as your agreement follows the Child Support Guidelines, it is a valid document. You are only required to file your agreement in court if:

• You want to enroll in the Family Support Orders Service (FSOS) for the purpose of enforcement, or
• The paying parent hasn’t been paying the child support amount you agreed to and you need to go to court to get a child support order

You and the other parent should continue to talk about child support at least once a year. If there are any changes in either parent’s income, you should discuss whether the current child support amounts you agreed to are still covering the costs of raising the children.