Child Support Calculator (How To Calculate Child Support Online)

Child Support Calculator (How To Calculate Child Support Online)

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Are you looking for a child support calculator?

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:

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!