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The Federal Child Support Guidelines:
Step-by-Step
Changing an existing child support order or agreement
Child support orders and agreements cannot predict and provide for all the changes that can occur in the lives of parents and their children. To protect the best interests of your children, and to make sure the amount is objective and fair, you may sometimes have to change the child support amount.
Variation orders and agreements
If you and the other parent agree to change the amount of child support you pay or receive, you may:
- change your existing written agreement, or
- change your existing court order by going back to court.
If you and the other parent do not agree, either of you may ask the court to decide for you. The court must use the guidelines to determine the appropriate amount unless there are special circumstances or you and the other parent are seeking a consent order. In these two situations the court may order a different amount of child support after looking at what the guideline amount would be before adjusting the child support.
How to change a court order or written agreement on child support made before May 1, 1997
The Federal Child Support Guidelines came into force on May 1, 1997. Under the guidelines, anyone who has a child support order or written agreement made before May 1, 1997 can change it to reflect the guidelines and the change in tax rules described below even if nothing else has changed. The parents can both agree to the change or, if they cannot agree, either parent can ask a judge to change the child support order or written agreement to reflect the amounts in the guidelines.
The impact of the 1997 Income Tax Act changes
The way child support is taxed was changed in 1997. Under the rules set out in 1997, a person:
- who pays child support does not claim the amount of child support paid as a deduction, and
- the person who receives child support does not include the amount of child support received as income.
The 1997 changes apply to any amount of child support set out in a court order or written agreement made on or after May 1, 1997.
Tax treatment for orders or agreements made before May 1, 1997
This is different from the way child support payments are treated under the Income Tax Act for court orders or written agreements made before May 1, 1997 and not varied since then. For these orders or written agreements, the person paying child support can claim the amount paid as a deduction and the person receiving the child support payments has to declare the payments as income.
Parents with child support orders or written agreements made before May 1, 1997, have three options.
- Do nothing
- You and the other parent can decide not to change your existing child support order or agreement.
- Change the court order or written agreement
- You and the other parent can agree to change the child support amount and get a new court order or negotiate a new written agreement based on the guidelines and 1997 tax rules.
- Change the way child support payments are treated for tax purposes
- If you and the other parent agree to keep the amount of child support the same and simply change how it is treated for tax purposes you can do so easily.
You can both sign and file Canada Revenue Agency Form T1157, Election for Child Support Payments, with the Canada Revenue Agency. This action does not change any terms of your pre-May 1, 1997, court order or written agreement, except for the way the payments are treated for tax purposes.
Changing a court order or written agreement on child support made before December 31, 2011
The Federal Child Support Tables were amended on December 31, 2011. If you have a child support order or an agreement that was based on tables that were in effect before December 31, 2011, you can have it changed by getting a new court order or agreement.
Recalculation Services
Some provinces have established a child support service to recalculate child support amounts annually based on updated income information. This can reduce the need to go to court. For information on whether this service is available where you live, please call the general inquiries number for your province or territory. You may also use the guidelines to calculate a new amount based on new income information.
