You are a Canadian resident and wondering if there are online child support calculators you can use to determine how much you may be entitled to receive or obligated to pay in child support?

Don’t go very far as we’ve got what you need!

In this article, we will provide you details on online child support calculator tools applicable in most Canadian provinces.

This article is divided into the following sections:

• What is a child support calculator
• Designated provinces in Canada
• Which child support guidelines apply
• Federal child support calculator
• Quebec child support calculator
• Provincial department of justice or attorney general
• Child support lawyers
• Takeaways

Let’s get started!

What is a child support calculator

A child support calculator is a tool that can be used to calculate child support.

The child support calculator must be based on the applicable child support guidelines.

In Canada, child support may be calculated based on federal child support guidelines or provincial child support guidelines depending on the one applicable to your case.

In this article, we will go over the child support calculators that are available in Canada particularly related to the federal child support guidelines and the Quebec child support guidelines.

The online child support calculators are not official child support calculations for legal purposes, they are intended to give you a good estimate of your child support entitlement or obligation.

If you want to formalize your child support through the courts, you’ll need to ensure that a formal child support calculation document is filed in accordance with the court rules of your province.

You should consult a child support lawyer to assist you if you think you may need some legal assistance.

Designated provinces in Canada

There are three provinces in Canada that have their own unique arrangement with the federal government with respect to establishing child support.

As such, these three provinces have established their own provincial laws to calculate child support in divorce cases when both parties live in their territory.

The three designated provinces are:

1. Manitoba
2. New Brunswick
3. Quebec 

As a general rule, the other Canadian provinces apply the federal guidelines for calculating child support in a divorce case.

The provinces applying the federal guidelines in divorce cases are:

1. Alberta
2. British Columbia
3. Newfoundland and Labrador
4. Northwest Territories
5. Nova Scotia
6. Nunavut
7. Ontario
8. PEI
9. Saskatchewan
10. Yukon

Are there online child support calculators that can be used to calculate child support?

We’ll look at the federal child support calculator and the Quebec child support calculator.

Which child support guidelines apply

Depending on the specifics of your case, there may be different child support guidelines that can apply.

If you are divorced or have applied for a divorce, the federal child support guidelines apply when:

1. You both live in any Canadian province other than Manitoba, New Brunswick or Quebec
2. You live in different provinces or territories, even if one lives in Manitoba, New Brunswick or Quebec
3. One of you lives in Canada and the other lives outside of Canada

The provincial child support guidelines will apply when:

1. You both live in Manitoba, New Brunswick or Quebec whether you are in a divorce case or not
2. You were never married and you both live in Canada
3. You are married or have separated but not getting a divorce and looking to establish child support
4. You had previously established child support based on a provincial guideline

Federal child support calculator 

The federal government offers and online child support calculator helping Canadians calculate child support when subject to the federal child support guidelines.

The federal child support calculator is called the 2017 Child Support Table Look-Up.

It’s a very simple child support calculator where you enter:

1. The number of children for which you are asking child support
2. The province or territory in which the paying party lives
3. The paying parent’s annual income

With this information, the federal child support calculator tool will calculate how much child support you may be required to pay under the federal child support guidelines.

The Child Support Table Look-Up tool will calculate only the base child support payment.

If you have special expenses or extraordinary expenses for your children, you should consult the federal government step-by-step child support guide offered by the federal government to determine if there are special expenses or extraordinary expenses to account for.

Special expenses or ordinary expenses, if awarded, are added to the base child support amount.

Quebec child support calculator 

The Quebec government also offers an online child support calculator.

Just like the federal child support calculator, the Quebec child support calculator is intended to give you an estimate of the amount of child support you are either entitled to or must pay.

The Quebec child support calculator should be used when both parents live in Quebec.

Since Quebec is one of the three designated provinces, it has a special arrangement with the Canadian government whereby if both parties live in Quebec, then the Quebec child support guidelines apply.

You can also consult the Quebec government’s step-by-step guide for the determination of child support for further information on how to calculate child support.

In this case, you should use the child support calculator offered by the Quebec government.

In the event that one party lives in Quebec and the paying party lives outside of Quebec, then you’ll need to use the federal child support calculator tool as the federal child support guidelines will apply.

We cover in detail how child support is calculated in Quebec if that’s of any interest to you. 

Provincial department of justice or attorney general 

You can get more information on child support calculation applicable to each specific Canadian province by consulting each of the provincial department of justice website or that of its attorney general.

Here are the relevant links to each of the provincial or territorial departments of justice:

1. Alberta
2. British Columbia
3. Manitoba
4. New Brunswick
5. Newfoundland and Labrador
6. Northwest Territories
7. Nova Scotia
8. Nunavut
9. Ontario
10. Prince Edward Island
11. Quebec
12. Saskatchewan
13. Yukon

Child support lawyers

In some cases, due to the particular nature of your case, you may need to consult with a lawyer to calculate your child support.

In such cases, a child support lawyer will consider the specifics of your case to determine what should be the appropriate child support amount to be established.

In the following cases, you may need the assistance of a family law firm for child support and an experienced child support lawyer:

1. When the paying parent’s revenues are not disclosed
2. When the paying parent’s revenues are not disclosed accurately 
3. When the paying parent’s income is kept in a separate company
4. When the paying parent is a self-employed 
5. When the paying parent does not have a lot of revenues but has significant assets
6. When the children have special expenses or particular needs
7. When the child support should apply retroactively

In the above cases or other complex cases, using the online child support calculator may not adequately calculate for you the real child support amount that you may be entitled to.

If you any complexity in your case, you are better off getting a legal consultation from a child support lawyer so you know what will work best for you.

Takeaways

There are convenient tools available now to help you calculate child support online.

The Canadian government and some provinces like Quebec have developed an online child support calculation tool to help you get an estimate of your child support entitlements or obligations.

The Canada child support calculator is simple to use and applicable in most cases.

The child support calculator Quebec tool is also another new and convenient child support calculation tool allowing those subject to the Quebec child support guidelines to calculate their child support obligations. 

We hope this article was useful in guiding you and helping direct you to the right online child support calculator.

We wish you all the best in your case!

The post Child Support Calculator (How To Calculate Child Support Online) appeared first on FamilyLawyer.Zone.

Are you a resident of Quebec or looking to calculate child support based on the Quebec child support guidelines?

This is the perfect article for you!

In this article, we will look at how child support is calculated in the Province of Quebec and go follow along with an example so you can fully understand how child support is calculated in Quebec. We will look at calculating the parents’ disposable income, look at possible authorized deductions, determine the total child support obligations based on the Child Support Determination Tables and ultimately calculate the monthly child support obligation.

This article is divided into the following sections:

1. Calculate each parents’ total gross annual income
2. Determine any authorized deductions
3. Calculate the total disposable income for both parents
4. Calculate the income distribution factor for each parent
5. Establish the annual parental contribution based on the number of children
6. Determine if there are any special expenses for the children
7. Determine your child custody arrangement
8. How does the Quebec government establish the child support obligations?
9. Brochure presenting the Quebec model for the determination for child support payments
10. How to calculate child support in Quebec takeaways

We also have a complete guide on child support in Quebec where our family lawyer answers many common child support questions. Feel free to consult our guide at any time.

Having said that, let’s begin…

1- Calculate each parents’ total gross annual income

To calculate child support, you must first establish each parents’ total annual gross income from all sources worldwide.

In the Province of Quebec, you must complete the Child Support Determination Form to calculate each party’s total annual gross income from all sources.

The Child Support Determination Form requires that you disclose your income derived from the following sources, at a minimum:

1. Salary
2. Commissions
3. Tips
4. Self-employment income
5. Employment insurance benefits
6. Parental insurance benefits
7. Support paid by a third party
8. Retirement bernefits
9. Disability benefits
10. Interests
11. Dividends
12. Investment income
13. Rental revenue
14. Any other source of income

With this list, each parent should be able to calculate their total annual income.

Let’s think of an example. 

Imagine there is a father who makes $50,000 per year and a mother who makes $45,000 per year and both of them are salaried employees. 

• Father’s total gross annual income: $50,000.
• Motherès total gross annual income: $45,000.

2- Determine any authorized deductions

Each parent can deduct a certain amount from their total annual gross income as an authorized deduction for the purpose of calculating child support.

In Quebec, there are three authorized deductions: 

1. Basic deduction
2. Union dues
3. Professional fees

The basic deduction is a fixed amount established by the Quebec government as outlined in the Child Support Determination Table (or the Basic Parental Contribution Determination Table) published on a yearly basis. 

In 2020, the deduction is $11,680.

The union dues are an authorized deduction if either parent is subject to a collective bargaining agreement, so you’ll deduct your yearly cost of union dues

The professional fees can be deducted such as if a parent is a member of a professional code like an accountant, notary, engineer, lawyer and so on.

If in our example, neither parent has any union dues or professional fees, each parent is allowed to deduct $11,680 from their income so we can calculate each parent’s disposable income.

3- Calculate the total disposable income for both parents

To calculate each parents’ disposable income, all you need to do is to take each parents’ total income and deduct the authorized deductions. In our example:

• Father’s disposable income: $50,000 – $11,680 = $38,320.
• Mother’s disposable income: $45,000 – $11,680 = $33,320. 

Now that we have each parents’ disposable income, we add the two together to get the total disposable income for both parties.

Father’s disposable income of $38,320 + mother’s disposable income of $33,320 = $71,640

• Therefore, the total disposable income for both parents: $71,640

4- Calculate the income distribution factor for each parent

The income distribution factor is essentially the weighted average of the income distribution between both parents.

In our example, the total disposable income for both parents is $71,640. So if the father’s disposable income is $38,320, his weight in the total disposable income is 53.49%. 

This is calculated by doing ( $38,320 / $71,640 ) X 100 = 53.49%.

If the father has a weight of 53.49%, then the mother has a weight of 46.51%. 

This is calculated by doing 100% – 53.49% = 46.51%.

• Father’s disposable income weight: 53.49%
• Mother’s disposable income weight: 46.51%

5- Establish the annual parental contribution based on the number of children

The Quebec government publishes an annual Child Support Determination Table or Basic Parental Contribution Determination Table establishing how much child support parents must pay depending on their total disposable income and the number of children they have.

In our example, we have calculated both parents’ total disposable income to be $71,640. Also, assume that they have 2 children.

By looking up in the Basic Parental Contribution Determination Table, for two children, the law states that the parents must pay a total of $13,470 to support both children. 

• Total yearly child support obligation is therefore $13,470 for both parents.

6- Determine if there are any special expenses for the children

Special expenses can be added to the calculation of child support.

The Child Support Determination Form specifically provides for the following special expenses:

1. Child care expenses
2. College and university expenses
3. Other special expenses

Imagine for the sake of our example that the mother pays daycare expenses for the two children amounting to $2,400 per year.

The total children’s special expenses will therefore amount to $2,400 that should be added to the basic total parental contribution of $13,470.

• In our example therefore, the total annual support obligations amounts to $15,870.

7- Determine your child custody arrangement 

Once you have determined the total annual child support obligations for both parents, you must then look at the child custody arrangement in order to calculate the impact of the child custody on each parents’ child support obligations.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that each parent will have a 50/50 shared custody over the two children.

We must first calculate the basic parental obligation for each parent. So:

• For father: $13,470 X 53.49% = $7,205.10
• For mother: $13,470 X 46.51% = $6,264.90

Then we take the basic parental obligation for both parents and multiply by the custody percentage. In our example:

• For father: $13,470 X 50% of custody for father = $6,735.00
• For mother: $13,470 X 50% of custody for mother = $6,735.00

Then we deduct the first number the the second:

• For father: $7,205.10 – $6,735.00 = 470.10
• For mother: $6,264.90 – $6,735.00 = $0.00 

The father will therefore need to pay the mother $470.10 to compensate for the child support obligations.

We must also calculate the father’s contribution towards the children’s daycare expenses as he must assume 53.49% of the yearly cost of $2,400. 

• Father’s share of daycare charges: $2,400 X 53.49% = $1,283.76

Therefore, the total that the father owes the mother is $470.10 + $1,283.76 = $1,753.86.

If the father chooses to pay child support on a monthly basis, he will then need to pay $146.15 per month.

8- How does the Quebec government establish the child support obligations?

Every year, the Quebec government publishes the child support obligations applicable in relation to the Quebec child support guidelines. 

This table is the result of a statistical and actuarial analysis of the cost that households incur for providing the nine basic needs of their children, namely:

• food
• lodging
• clothing
• furnishings
• telecommunications
• transportation
• personal hygiene
• household maintenance
• leisure activities

The law therefore considers that to raise a child in Quebec, parents must pay for at least these nine basic needs for their children to assure them a healthy and normal development.

Although the Courts have discretion to change child support payments and deviate from these tables, the rule is for the table to apply most of the time. 

9- Brochure presenting the Quebec model for the determination for child support payments

There is a complete brochure that the Quebec government has published that goes into all the details on how to calculate child support entitled The Quebec model for the determination of child support payments.

You can use this document to really dig deep into the calculation of child support based on the Quebec child support guidelines.

10- How to calculate child support in Quebec takeaways

Calculating child support can get somewhat complicated depending on your family circumstances such as the number of children you have and the custody arrangement applicable to each child. 

In this article, we calculated a relatively simple scenario where both parents are employees, have two children and have shared custody.

Imagine other scenarios where a parent is self-employed, earns money under the table, has a business off-shore, does not have lots of income but has a lot of fixed assets, there are many children and a different custody arrangement is applicable to each child and so on…

In such cases, you may need to consult with a child support lawyer to help you calculate child support in such a way that you do not make costly mistakes.

Should you need the support and assistance of competent child support lawyers in Quebec, our law firm is ready and able to serve you. Contact us and we are happy to discuss your case further.

We hope you enjoyed this article and wish you the best of luck to calculate your child support.

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