"I called the FRO and they are not helping me" - BlogBite (21)

We hear this statement quite frequently.

Here is a typical scenario:

* Parties' family law case ends with a final order for child support. They have one child. Dad pays child support for 9 years.
*Daughter turns 17 and moves in with her boyfriend. She also gets a full-time job.
*Dad has irregular contact with daughter, particularly as she gets older.
*Neither daughter nor Mom tell Dad she is now living with her boyfriend (and not Mom) and working full-time.
*Dad finds out a year later.
*Dad calls Mom and asks her to advise FRO that child support ended some time ago. Mom refuses.
*FRO continues to collect child support.
*Dad calls FRO - he is told (correctly) that they cannot help him in ending the child support payments. FRO's job is to enforce the last court order. They are going so.

What is Dad to do?

Dad needs to go to Court and ask for an Order changing the last Court Order and terminating his child support obligations. If Mom is not agreeing to advise the FRO of the change and Dad is successful in terminating the support payments, he may be entitled to costs (Mom may have to pay his costs for having to go to Court on this issue).

We will soon have a KIT available on our website for situations exactly like this one - Stay Tuned!

UPDATE - January, 2018

We are pleased to let you know that our Etsy shop is now OPEN!

Visit it here: SELFREP SUPPORT

In the shop, we make available to you Manuals (E-books) on various topics, to assist you in representing yourself before Ontario's family law Courts.

So far, we have Manuals on preparing an effective:

• Financial Statement (both long-form and short-form); and
• Affidavit.

MORE MANUALS TO COME! 

"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.

"When do my child support payments end"(3) - BlogBite

BlogBite (16)

Child support and when it ends is a topic on which we received the MOST questions.

For this reason, we have decided to include some simple question and answer hypotheticals in our BlogBites.

Question: My daughter really wants to go to college. She just finished high school but the program to which she wants to apply tells her she needs to get more specific high school credits before she can submit her application. She is going to take the credits, while living with her mother, but she can only take them on a part-time basis. It will take her 3 semesters, part-time, to get them. She said she will work part-time as well, while she is attending school part-time. Do I still have to pay child support?

Answer: In our view, YES. Your daughter has a plan. She plans to attend college and she has looked into how to apply. The further courses she is taking will permit her to apply to a program of her choice. In our view, the court will not be concerned about the fact that she is taking them on a part-time basis only, particularly since she is also planning on working. In other works, she is not idle - she is applying herself. She should save a portion of her earnings during this time and contribute them to the cost of her college education, particularly if you and her mother's income brackets are not high.

Remember, no two cases are alike. Apply any hypotheticals to your case with care!

UPDATE - January, 2018

We are pleased to let you know that our Etsy shop is now OPEN!

Visit it here: SELFREP SUPPORT

In the shop, we make available to you Manuals (E-books) on various topics, to assist you in representing yourself before Ontario's family law Courts.

So far, we have Manuals on preparing an effective:

• Financial Statement (both long-form and short-form); and
• Affidavit.

MORE MANUALS TO COME! 

"When do my child support payments end?" (2)

We have previously posted in response to this question, here:

http://ontariofamilylawblog.blogspot.ca/2010/03/when-do-my-child-support-payments-end.html?showComment=1379060235828#c1072379374379690057

The post generated many comments and questions so we decided to provide more guidance in the form of the following "flash cards" on this topic:

1. Contrary to a wide-held view, in Ontario child support does not end automatically when a young person turns 18. It also does not continue automatically until a young person is 18, without regard to what the young person is doing. For example, if a 16-year-old leaves school, begins working and moves in with friends, child support will end then and not continue for another two years until he/she turns 18.

2. A young person may continue to be considered "a child" for the purposes of child support even when they are 23-24.  Whether or not they remain eligible to receive support depends on the specific circumstances of each case but generally speaking, if a young person cannot become financially independent because they are still at school or unable to attend school or work for medical reasons, child support may continue to be payable.

3. Child support is the right of the child and not the right of the recipient parent. Parents do not have the right to bargain away, between themselves, the child's right to support.

4. There are different forms of child support contemplated by the Child Support Guidelines. The form and the amount of child support is likely to change when a young person enrolls in post-secondary education and in particular, if they live away from home for part of the year to attend school.

5. The overall means (ie: what is available in funds) of the parents and the child are always relevant to the issue of child support - particularly when post-secondary education is involved. This means, for example, that a parent earning $40,000 a year will not be expected to participate in covering any significant portion of a child's attendance at an Ivy League university in the US, at considerable cost. That parent will only be expected to contribute proportionately to their actual income.

6. The Courts do not simply accept line 150 of a payor's income tax return as an indication of their actual income for child support purposes. Self-employed individuals, in particular, will be subject to much closer scrutiny as to income and benefits available to them, pursuant to the Child Support Guidelines.

Making an important point once again - there are some general guidelines from the law on the issue of child support - there is no doubt about that  - BUT, each case also turns on its own facts and you should consider those specific facts with an actual lawyer to make sure that your particular circumstances are properly addressed.