Obtaining Reliable and Repeatable SSAG Calculations

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2. GATHERING INFORMATION (continued)

2.3 Other Information

The Advisory Guidelines software will require additional information about child support and the children’s special expenses for the purposes of the with child support formulas. Information about the amount of the payor’s support obligations from previous relationships, if any, is required for the prior support obligations exception to both the with child support and the without child support formulas.

2.3.1 Provinces of Residence

The information required is the province of residence of each party, determined in the same manner as the applicable table is determined under the Child Support Guidelines. CSG s. 3(3)

This information is required to determine the provincial tax rates, benefits and credits available to each party and set the child support tables applicable to each party.

2.3.2 Net Amount of Children’s Special Expenses

The information required is the net cost of those of the children’s expenses which qualify as “special and/or extraordinary expenses” within the meaning of ss. 7(1) and (1.1) of the Child Support Guidelines,^[37] after any subsidies and third party contributions have been applied to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of the expenses to the parties. CSG s. 7(3)

Although parents are presumptively required to contribute to the net cost of qualifying special expenses in proportion to their incomes, they can share the expense in another manner, usually by agreement. The parents’ actual contributions to the special expenses of the children of the marriage are deducted from their incomes in the calculation of individual net disposable income under the Advisory Guidelines with child support formula. CSG s. 7(2); SSAG §8.3.1

2.3.3 Children’s Residential Arrangements

The information required is the primary residence of each of the children of the marriage as between the parties.

The children’s individual residential arrangements are relevant to determine:

1. which party pays child support to whom and in what amount;
2. the child-related tax deductions, benefits and credits each party may be eligible to receive; and,
3. whether the parties have shared custody of the children, within the meaning of s. 9 of the Child Support Guidelines, or split custody, within in the meaning of s. 8 of the Guidelines.

2.3.4    Amount of Child Support

The information required is the actual amount of child support paid where the amount departs from the amount specified in the Child Support Guidelines tables. The Advisory Guidelines software will deduct the table amount of child support from both parties’ incomes in determining individual net disposable income. SSAG §8.3

The amount of child support payable under the Child Support Guidelines is presumed to be the amount set out in the child support tables for the number of eligible children at the payor’s income, subject to a small number of exceptions: where a child is over the age of majority; the payor earns more than $150,000 per year; the payor is a step-parent to a child of the marriage; or, the payment of the table amount would cause undue hardship for either the payor or recipient. CSG ss. 3, 4, 5, 10; DA s. 15.1(3)

Where the parties have split custody, the Child Support Guidelines require a departure from the tables, calculated as a set-off between the parties’ respective table amounts. Where the parties have shared custody, the Guidelines allow a departure from the table amounts with proof that the payor is incurring increased costs as a result of the custodial arrangement.^[38] Child support may also be payable in a different amount if an order or agreement makes special provisions that directly or indirectly benefit the children such that payment of the table amount would be inequitable. Csg ss. 8, 9; DA s. 15.1(5)

2.3.5 Support Paid for Prior Relationships

The information required is:

1. the total amount of child support paid by the payor in relation to previous relationships; and,
2. the total amount of spousal support paid by the payor in relation to previous relationships

This information is required to adjust the payor’s income for the purposes of the Advisory Guidelines prior support obligations exception. SSAG §12.3

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