Child Support for Professionals and Business Owners in Calgary
Calgary Family Lawyer focused on child support, family expenses and income determination
YOUR CHILDREN'S STANDARD OF LIVING IS WHAT WE PROTECT
Your children are used to a certain lifestyle, and separation should not take it from them. Fair child support starts with understanding the real income of the parties. We make sure the support your children live on reflects what a parent actually earns, not just what a tax return says. Our firm protects your child’s standard of living.
Fair Support Starts with the Facts
How We Can Help with Child Support
Determining child support can be easier in cases where both parents earn a low or modest income. In such cases, tools such as the Federal Child Support Guidelines can apply more seamlessly. However, determining child support often becomes more complicated in families where one or both parents are professionals or business owners. These types of claims require closer scrutiny of the family’s finances and sources of income. For example, if bonuses or commissions are involved, or if some of the family income comes from a business, great care must be taken to ensure child support amounts reflect the true family income.
Advantage Family Law has the financial expertise and legal experience needed for child support claims within professional families. We have economic literacy that allows us to dig into the real income numbers and earning ability of each spouse. Our thorough analysis helps us to provide our clients with fair and accurate numbers for what they are required to pay or receive for child support.
Every case is personally reviewed by senior lawyer Christopher Bungay to help ensure child support is based on accurate income information and Alberta law.
Securing What Your Children Are Owed
If you are the parent receiving support, we determine what your children are legally entitled to, make sure the amount reflects your ex-partner’s true income, and pursue it on your behalf.
Ensuring You Pay Only What the Law Requires
If you are the parent paying support, we confirm the amount is based on an accurate picture of your income, so you meet your obligations to your children without overpaying for years to come.
Covering Additional Expenses
School, sports, and other special expenses are separate from basic child support. We determine which costs are shared and how they are divided between the parents.
Enforcing and Adjusting Support
If support is already agreed upon, or court ordered by a judge, we help enforce payment. If your circumstances have genuinely changed, we help you adjust the amount, so support matches what the law requires today.
Determining Real Income for Child Support
Professionals and Business Owners: Child Support Issues
Professionals and business owners often face unique challenges when there is conflict over child support. These families often earn money in a way that makes Child Support Guidelines more difficult to apply. These difficulties include the following:
- One parent earning a significant professional income while the other parent chose to work less to care for the children
- Income retained within a corporation rather than paid as salary
- Dividends, bonuses, and commissions that fluctuate significantly year to year
- Personal benefits run through a business, from vehicles to travel and entertainment
- Trusts and investment structures that generate income without a salary line
- A parent working less than they reasonably could, or arranging their affairs to show less income
Determining Child Support in these types of claims involves a careful review of all sources of income. The roles of each parent within the marriage must also be carefully understood. We use our business and legal knowledge to gain insight into the full economic story of your marriage. In this way, we deliver the very best results to resolve Child Support conflict between parents.
CHILD SUPPORT IN ALBERTA
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Federal Child Support Guidelines still apply if income is over $150,000?
Yes, the Guidelines are the starting point for most child support analysis, including where incomes are greater than $150,000. However, the more complex the income scenario (corporate, investments, etc.) the more challenging it is to apply the Guidelines. Meticulous legal and business analysis of family finances is necessary in these situations.
My ex-partner owns a business. What income do they have to disclose?
A parent whose income comes from self-employment, a partnership, or a corporation they control is expected to disclose financial statements and amounts such as retained corporate earnings. Any personal benefits or personal expenses paid through a business can be added back to personal income for determining amounts owing for child support.
Can child support be claimed retroactively?
Yes. If child support was based on understated income, or was never established, a court may award retroactive child support. Awards typically extend up to three years before the paying parent received formal notice, and potentially further where income was concealed, or disclosure was delayed. Because retroactive support is owed to the children, amounts can accumulate quickly once the parent’s true income is determined.
How does shared parenting change child support?
When each parent has the children at least 40% of the time, Courts usually look at the Guideline to determine what each parent would owe. Each spouse’s income is then netted against each other. However, the Guideline is a starting point and is not always the final formula used in determining support that is owing. Courts also weigh the extra costs of running two households in each child’s unique needs and resources when determining final numbers owing for child support.
What counts as an extraordinary expense?
Extraordinary expenses are child care expenses over and above normal amounts. These can include the following:
- Childcare required for a parent's work or education
- Health and dental costs beyond insurance coverage
- Private school tuition
- Post-secondary education
- Extracurricular activities that are extraordinary given the family's income
Whether an expense qualifies depends on the child’s best interests and how the family spent before separation.
Can child support payment amounts change after they are set?
Yes, support amounts can be changed. Support is calculated by looking at current income, not the income a parent earned when support was first determined. Significant changes such as increased or decreased income, altered parenting arrangements, or parental health issues can justify recalculating the amount, upward or downward. Obtaining updated financial disclosure from parents is usually the first step in determining whether support needs to be changed.
Does child support end when a child turns 18?
Not automatically. An adult dependent child who is getting post-high school education may require ongoing child support. Similarly, an adult child who was unable to become self-sufficient because of illness or disability may also require ongoing child support.
My ex-partner is not paying child support. What are my options?
If there is no court order for support in place, we can apply to a Judge and ask that your spouse be ordered to pay child support. If a court order exists and is being ignored, we can help you ensure that Alberta’s Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) collects money owed. MEP can force a spouse to pay support by garnishing wages, accessing bank accounts and tax refunds, and through suspending your spouse’s driver’s license until support payments are made.
How does child support affect my taxes?
In most cases, it does not. Child support is not tax deductible for the parent paying it, and it is not taxable income for the parent receiving it.
Your Senior Lawyer
Christopher Bungay
Christopher has a strong understanding of income within families of professionals and business owners. His financial training outside of law makes him an ideal fit for clients seeking a fair and balanced approach to determining child support. Christopher ensures that you receive or pay what is fair.