When children are involved in a separation, they may be entitled to child support.
The parent with primary residence of the children will receive the child support to help cover the expenses of raising and housing the child. If a child is living with both parents equally, a child support payment may still be required depending upon the discrepancy in incomes between the parents as well as other factors.
The amount of child support owed is calculated based on The Child Support Guidelines, which provides a Table amount for child support. In most circumstances, the residence of the children, the income of the parents and the number of children are the primary considerations. The court may deviate from the Table amount under certain limited circumstances which are set out in the Guidelines.
In addition to the Table amount of child support, both parents may be required to contribute to certain special or extraordinary expenses of the children, such as daycare, medical expenses, post-secondary education, and extra-curricular activities. These are commonly referred to as Section 7 Expenses and require the parents to share in the costs in proportion to their respective incomes.