What the child support guidelines are and how they work

Child support orders made in British Columbia are based on the Federal Child Support Guidelines. These guidelines contain tables and clear rules that courts must use to set child support. The tables list the amount of child support the payor has to pay based on how much he or she earns and how many children the payor must support. Each province has its own table; you use the one for the province where the payor lives.

To figure out how much child support the payor should be paying under the guidelines:

1. Use the Child Support Online Lookup tool to calculate the correct amount of child support (effective as of December 31, 2011).

OR

1. From the main page for the Federal Child Support Guidelines, under Schedule I, choose the province where the payor lives. For example, for British Columbia, Under Schedule 1 - Federal Child Support Tables, click [British Columbia/Colombie-Britannique]. The child support table for the selected province appears.
2. Choose the table that applies to you, based on the number of children you are seeking support for.
3. Find the number closest to the payor's gross annual income in the Income column (income is listed as a range; e.g., 24000 – 24999).
4. Look to the right of these figures for the basic amount payable. If the payor's income is higher than the lowest income figure, multiply the amount of income that exceeds the lowest amount by the percentage under Plus (%) to get the correct figure. See Schedule 1 for an example of how to work this out.

The guidelines also allow judges to consider making orders for amounts that are different from those shown in the tables if:

• the court agrees with the payor's claim for undue hardship,
• the child is age 19 or over (and not in school full-time),
• the payor is a step-parent, or
• either party's income is over $150,000.

The judge can also make an order that's different from the tables if either party is making a claim for special or extraordinary expenses.