Child Support and Deadbeat Parents

Questions

Child Support and Deadbeat Parents

Definitions: According to Canadian Law

Payer

"Child"

Child Support

Do you agree with the measures taken when payments are not received?

In your opinion, what can be done to prevent child support debt?

Under Family Law it is a periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or relationship. This payment is made either directly or indirectly by a payer to the recipient.

The Family Law Act definition of a "child" includes a person whom a parent demonstrated a settled intention to treat as a child of his or her family, but does not include a child placed in a foster home for financial consideration by the person who has custody of the child (Kronby 103).

Therefore, if a man marries a woman who has a child from a previous relationship, he may have a support obligation for the child.

It is the relationship that existed prior to the break up of the family unit that is relevant to the analysis.

The Family Law Act states that every parent has an obligation, to the extent the parent is capable of doing so to provide support, in accordance with the need, for his or her child who is unmarried and less than 18 years old, but this obligation does not extend to a child at least 16 years old who has withdrawn from parental control (Kronby 103).

A dependent child has a right to sue his parents for support.

Deadbeat Parents

It is the term referring to parents that have chosen to not be financially supportive of their children.

Question

What do you think are the reasons payers are unable to make payments?

Claiming Undue Hardship

Why Are Payers Unable to make Payments?

Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP)

Under section 10 in the Guidelines, a court may make an order for child support in a different amount altogether, if otherwise a parent or child would suffer "undue hardship."

Circumstances that may cause a parent to suffer undue hardship are set out in section 10(2):

• responsibility for a high level of debt incurred to support the spouse and their children prior to divorce or to earn a living
• a legal duty under an order to support any person, ex. former spouse, dependent parent
• a legal duty to support any person who is unable to obtain the necessities of life due to illness or disability, without reference to an order

But the undue hardship application must be denied if the household of the payer, after child support is determined, has a higher living standard than the household of the recipient (Kronby 116).

How is Child Support Determined?

The common reasons recognized are:

• change in financial circumstances
• divorce/separation process may deter payment
• social and psychological factors

Works Cited

The support arrangements can be either voluntarily agreed to by the ex-partners or judgment - ordered through civil court system.

Using the Federal Child Support Guidelines the amount of child support is determined by:

• living arrangements of the child/ren
• income of the payer
• number of child beneficiaries
• province or territory where the payer lives (to account for differing tax rates across jurisdictions)

In the 1980s and 1990s, all provincial governments created MEP to provide assistance to payers and recipients of child and spousal support, and to improve compliance with support payments (Robinson Web).

Facts

Measures Taken when Payments are Not Received

Facts

Under MEP in an average month in 2010/2011 30% of cases did not receive support payment.

Ontario jails more than 1500 people a year who do not pay their child support.

When payments are not met MEP and the court have the authority to:

• suspend driver's licenses and passports
• garnish wages and pensions
• set a jail term

Programs are able to undertake tracing activities.

As of March 31, 2011, the monthly median of a regular child support payment across nine jurisdictions was $316.

The processing and ensuring payment of child and spousal support is essentially the same for all MEPs across Canada however, each jurisdiction has developed its own polices and procedures to address local needs (Robinson Web).

The decision to enroll in MEP resides with the recipient of the support payment.

Caroline Mallan Toronto, Star. "Punishment to increase on deadbeats." Toronto Star (Canada) n.d.: Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Child Support Fines. CBC Player. N.p., 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.<http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Manitoba/Information+Radio+-+MB/ID/2216396615/?page=32>.

Kronby, Malcom C. Child Support. 10th ed. N.p.: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd., 2010. Print.

Lloyd, Jillian. "When do stiff penalties for deadbeat parents go to far?." Christian Science Monitor 25 Mar. 1999: 2. Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 25 Mar. 2013

Robinson, Paul. Profile of child support beneficiaries. N.p.: n.p., 2009. Print.

Steeves, Chantal. Interjurisdictional cases of spousal and child support, 2010/2011. N.p.: n.p., 2012. Print.