Building blocks spelling out the word “child care” with a judge’s gavel on top and books in the background.

Does My Child Support Obligation End if My Ex-Spouse Remarries in Alberta?

Finalizing child support arrangements through a separation agreement or otherwise may offer co-parents a sense of security, knowing that the child’s financial needs will be met. But, when your ex-spouse remarries, you may wonder if the income of your ex-spouse’s new partner will affect child support.

In Alberta, child support is regulated by the Federal Child Support Guidelines for formerly married couples and the Alberta Child Support Guidelines for former adult interdependent couples. The child support guidelines look at factors beyond the income of the parents, including the condition, means and needs of the child, as well as each parent’s overall financial circumstances and lifestyle, which may include the income of a new spouse (MacDonald v Brodoff, 2020 ABCA 246). However, on the whole, remarriage rarely has an impact on the calculation of child support.

Does Remarriage End Child Support?

According to family law in Alberta, when a former spouse remarries, their obligations to pay child support do not automatically end or change.

Child support is calculated based on the biological parents’ ability to provide for the financial needs of the children involved, i.e., incomes, which may change over time. Though not often the case, if a court determined that a remarriage caused a material change in circumstances, altering a parent’s ability to provide for the needs of the children, child support payments may need to be recalculated. However, remarriage alone does not automatically trigger a modification to any party’s financial support obligations, and it is not common for remarriage to constitute a material change in circumstances such that child support would need to be recalculated.

When Are There Grounds to Modify Child Support Due to Remarriage?

It is difficult to make a case for departing from the guidelines used to calculate child support payments. The Alberta and federal child support guidelines rely on the following factors to determine a family’s child support obligations: (a) each parent’s income or income-earning capacity, (b) how many children there are, (c) the needs of the children, and (d) the family’s parenting arrangements.

It is important to remember that changes to parenting schedules, a child’s needs, or a parent’s income are always potential grounds for child support modification and don’t only arise in the context of remarriage which rarely has an impact significant enough to trigger a recalculation.

Notice factor (a) above states “each parent’s income or income-earning capacity”. If an ex-spouse remarries and then stops working, the court can impute an income to them for the purposes of calculating child support. This would have less, if any, impact on child support payments.

Do Stepparents Have to Pay Child Support?

Meeting the financial needs of a child is the responsibility of the child’s biological parents. Stepparents do not have any legal obligation to pay child support for a child of their new spouse unless either (a) they proceed with a formal adoption process, at which point they become legally responsible as though they were a biological parent, or (b) they are standing in loco parentis.

If a stepparent voluntarily financially supports a child, such contributions cannot be considered child support payments; a pattern of support does not impose any obligations on a stepparent to continue to provide support.

How Kirk Montoute Dawson LLP Can Help You Navigate Child Support in Changing Circumstances

If your former spouse has a new partner and you would like more information on what this could mean for your existing child support arrangement, please contact one of the family law lawyers at Kirk Montoute Dawson LLP for advice or representation.

Written by Kyrie Bouscal

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