Advantage Family Law
Child Support
Experienced Calgary Family Lawyers for Child Custody & Support
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Advantage Family Law helps people when their relationships end (marriages or common law). Much of our work focuses on helping clients get treated fairly with child support payments.
We are a small family legal team. Our people understand the legal and emotional struggles that come with supporting children after a marriage breaks down. We are dedicated to making sure everyone in the family has their needs met fairly. This includes the kids, but also you, the parent.
Your Advantage – Senior Experience
Advantage Family Law makes sure that your case is under the care and direction of a lawyer with over 20 years of experience. Christopher Bungay has been a practicing lawyer since 2003. Over the past 20+ years, he has acted for hundreds of clients throughout Canada.
As a father of two, Chris knows how emotional it can be when parents struggle to find the best way forward for their kids. He is always ready to listen carefully to your issues, and help you find the best resolution possible for your children.
Your Advantage – Senior Experience
Chris moved to Calgary with his young family in 2019. Prior to this, he was the managing director of BC law firm that spanned 3 cities. He is a currently a member in good standing of both the Law Society of Alberta and the Family Law subsection of the Canadian Bar Association.
Outside of law, Chris is passionate about youth mental health. He is the president of Sober Kids Canada, a Canadian non-profit with a mission of protecting children from substance abuse.
Advantage Family Law makes sure that your case is under the care and direction of a lawyer with over 20 years of experience. Christopher Bungay has been a practicing lawyer since 2003. Over the past 20+ years, he has acted for hundreds of clients throughout Canada.
As a father of two, Chris knows how emotional it can be when parents struggle to find the best way forward for their kids. He is always ready to listen carefully to your issues, and help you find the best resolution possible for your children.
Chris moved to Calgary with his young family in 2019. Prior to this, he was the managing director of BC law firm that spanned 3 cities. He is a currently a member in good standing of both the Law Society of Alberta and the Family Law subsection of the Canadian Bar Association.
Outside of law, Chris is passionate about youth mental health. He is the president of Sober Kids Canada, a Canadian non-profit with a mission of protecting children from substance abuse.
Child Support Issues:
What We Do For You?
Our law firm helps you with Child support issues in the following ways:
- We help you determine whether you are entitled to receive child support, or whether you are required to pay child support.
- We help you determine fair amounts for child support. Here, we try to ensure that you receive what is legally fair, or pay only what it legally fair.
Determining Your Rights
Re:
Child Support
The first step in the process is determining your rights and obligations about child support. In most cases, after a couple separates, some amount of child support must be paid. We help determine a) which parent pays, and b) how much a parent pays.
Determining Your Rights Re: Child Support
Generally, the parent who has main custody of the children will be owed the most for child support. The amount owing will also largely depend on the income/earning ability of each spouse.
Federal law, called the Child Support Guidelines, must be followed as much as possible in determining amounts owing. However, even with these guidelines, figuring out who must pay, and how much to pay, is not always easy. A careful legal analysis is necessary to ensure you/your kids are being treated fairly (whether you are receiving or paying support).
Facts That Determine
Child Support
No family is easy and straightforward. Similarly, figuring out child support after a family breaks up is complex. Advantage Family Law gets to know you and examines all of your family information to determine your child support rights.
The following information can determine your rights to pay or receive child support:
Time spent with children after separation
How much you owe or receive for child support is determined, in part, by which parent cares for the children/lives with them most of the time. For example, if one parent has the children most of the time, that parent will almost certainly be owed the full amount of child support payable by law. However, if you and your ex-spouse share custody of the children, the amount owed by one or each of you may be lower than if one of you had the children full-time.
Income of each spouse
The amount each spouse earns is an important factor in determining how much is payable for child support. If a parent owes child support, the law looks at their income amount and based on that, sets out a clear requirement for how much he/she must pay.
The income of each spouse is also important when time with the kids is shared between the parents. The following example may be helpful to explain this: Parent A has the children for 60% of the time, and earns $50,000 per year. Parent B has the children 40% of the time, but earns $125,000 per year. In these circumstances, Parent B would still be required to pay a higher amount for child support because Parent B’s income is much higher than Parent A.
Ability to earn income
Child Support obligations are determined not only by reported income (tax returns) but also by a parent’s ability to earn income. For example, if one parent owns a business and is paid in different ways through that business, the business income itself may be used by a judge to determine that parent’s real income. Also, if a parent makes less in one year than in the past, a judge can use the average of past years of income to arrive at a higher number for child support rather than base it on one year’s past income.
The law also does not allow a parent to work less than they can or to pretend they cannot make more money. After separation, each parent has a legal obligation to strive to be self-sufficient and to support their children. In circumstances where one parent’s ability to earn is higher than they are reporting, a judge can determine their actual income is higher for the purpose of determining amounts owing for child support. This applies to both the person paying and the person receiving child support.
Frequently Asked Questions
My ex-spouse is not paying any child support. What are my options?
If your former spouse is not paying any child support, our law firm files documents with the Court and asks a judge to order payment of child support. If there is already a Court order for payment, and your ex-spouse is refusing to pay, we can help you access legal tools to force payment. These tools include the following:
- Obtaining an order/direction that your ex-spouse’s wages be garnished (meaning a portion of his/her pay cheque would be directed to you instead of going directly to him/her).
- Requesting that his/her driver’s license be suspended until child support is paid.
- Asking that his/her assets be seized (bank accounts, tax refunds etc.) and that this money be paid to you instead of to him/her.
What if my life situation has changed and I can no longer pay child support?
If you have been ordered to pay child support, but your life has changed in a big way, we can ask a judge to lower the amount you must pay. For example, if you have become disabled/sick, the Court may permit you to pay less than you normally could when you were healthy and working full time.
What impact does child support have on my taxes?
In most cases, child support has no impact on your tax obligations. If you pay child support, the law says that what you pay is not tax deductible. Similarly, if you receive child support, you are not taxed on any child support payments you receive.
Why choose Advantage Family Law?
We are a small family of legal professionals. We know your children are important, and we do our best to make sure their rights are respected. However, in this process, you must be treated fairly by the law. Our mission is to ensure the law (and your ex-spouse) treat you fairly.