Adult Child Support under the Child Support Guidelines
Section 3(2) of the Federal Child Support Guidelines provides that the amount of child support for a child over the age of majority is the amount as determined by the Guidelines unless the court considers that “approach to be inappropriate, in which case the amount of support will be based on the condition, means, needs and other circumstances of the child and the financial ability of each spouse to contribute to the support of the Child”.
Payors ofter argue that the quantum of support should be reduced or not applicable for a child who lives in residence and other returns home for holidays. They argue that if the child is away from school, and does not live with the recipient spouse, they should not pay full table child support. This is particularly the case when the payor is also pay his/her proportionate share of s.7 expenses. The recipient would argue that their expenses are not reduced by that much bc most of their expenses are fixed costs.
Clearly if the child lives in residence at school for 8 months out of the year, the guideline approach (which provides for the daily living expenses for a child) is not appropirate in many cases. Furthermore, if a child earns income during the year, it is possible to argue that the table amounts are also inappropriate.
Courts seem to recognize now that full child support is not appropriate when a child is away at school, but may be when the child returns home for the summer.
A Toronto divorce lawyer may just be what you need. After all, dealing with family law matters on your own is not a pleasant matter.