Family law matters often involve various expenses related to children’s upbringing, education, and extracurricular activities. In Alberta, Section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines addresses these additional expenses and provides a framework for sharing the financial responsibility between separated or divorced parents. In this blog post, we’ll explore what …
Child Support Calculators in Alberta: How They Work and What You Need to Know
Child support is a critical aspect of any divorce or separation involving children. It is essential to ensure that children have the financial support they need to thrive, regardless of the circumstances of their parents. In Alberta, child support is calculated based on a set of guidelines that take into …
Imputing Income in Family Law Cases: What You Need to Know
When it comes to determining the appropriate amount of child or spousal support in a family law case, the court will consider a range of factors, including the income of each party. However, what happens when one party is not currently earning an income, but has the potential to earn …
Imputing Income When Under-employed or Unemployed
In Alberta, child and spousal support are calculated based on the payor’s income. If someone has chosen to work less or take lower paying work, the Court may determine that imputing income to that individual is the appropriate course of action. This has historically been a difficult thing to do …
Gender Inequity in Family Law: The Men, The Myth, the Urban Legend
Family Lawyers regularly encounter male clients who feel preemptively aggrieved by the judicial system. Some men’s advocacy groups would have you believe that court decisions in Family Law are unjustly and favourably skewed toward women. That perception is not reality. Parenting Issues When couples with children separate, the two key …
Calculating Guideline Income for Support Purposes
If you are the payor or recipient of child or spousal support in Alberta, it is important you are aware of how calculating guideline income comes into play. While your guideline income may be the same as your Line 150 (or as of 2019, Line 15000), that is not always …
Will Quitting Your Job Reduce Child Support?
Can you quit your job to reduce child support obligations? After all, child support (and spousal support) are based off of your gross income so a lower income results in lower support. Why work long hours at a stressful job when you can only work part-time or move to that …
What are Section 7 Expenses?
Many people are familiar with child support. You can calculate it on the Government of Canada website and you simply pay the number that it gives you. However, what the Government of Canada website does not give you is a calculation to be used for the payment of Section 7 …
What is child support?
Many people know what child support is; it is the money you are forced to pay your ex every month. However, there is a bit more to child support than that. Child support is financial support that is paid between the parents so the children can live a lifestyle commensurate …
Retroactive Child Support: Payor Beware!
In 1996, the Federal Government introduced the Federal Child Support Guidelines (the “Guidelines”). The purpose of the Guidelines was to promote consistency and fairness in child support payments. The Guidelines provide for two classes of payment. First is “Section 3” child support, which is based on the payor’s income as …