"When do my child support payments end" (4) - BlogBite

BlogBite (17)

Here is a hypothetical about which we receive a lot of questions:

Question: My son turned 18 nine months ago. I stopped making child support payments to my ex-wife based on our court order a month later. I just got a letter from the Family Responsibility Office that I have to pay up what I owe for the last 8 months and continue to pay on a monthly basis. But he is 18!!! His mother is also sending me emails that I "do not get it" and have to continue paying. Do I have to?

Answer: Contrary to public belief, child support does not end automatically when a child turns 18. Not in Canada.

In order to give a definitive answer to the hypothetical, we would need more facts.

The questions we would ask include the following:

1. Is your son still attending school?

2. If so, what kind of program is he attending?

3. If not, does he have short-term plans to return to school, and if so, to what program?

4. Does your son have any physical or mental disabilities, academic challenges?

5. If he is not attending school and has no plans to return to school soon, is he working? Full-time? Part-time?

6. Is your son living with your ex-wife?

Answers to all those questions impact on whether or not you have to continue to pay child support.

And remember, FRO do not make the decision on whether you have to continue to pay - if necessary, the Court does - they only enforce the last court order.