Child Support Calculator

If you want to calculate child support, here is a basic child support calculator for your convenience.  Unfortunately, there is a lot more to a child support calculation than punching a few numbers into a child support calculator.

Step 1. Calculate the paying parent’s income.  This figure will need to be input into the child support calculator.  The starting point for this figure is often line 150 of the paying parent’s income tax return, or the paying parent’s last three pay stubs.

Step 2. Calculate the receiving parent’s income.  While we don’t need to input this figure into the child support calculator, this figure is used to determine special or extraordinary expenses.

Step 3. Calculate the table amount of child support using this child support calculator.   You will need to input the child support payor’s income, the number of children, and the province in which the paying parent lives.

Step 4. Determine if there is undue hardship.  It is rare for this to occur, but may happen where the payor’s income is very limited and the receiver is financially comfortable.

Step 5. Calculate the total of any “add ons” to child support – these are special or extraordinary (section 7) expenses.  These are normally shared between parents in proportion to their incomes, although parents can agree to share them differently (e.g. each parent pays the same amount).  These amounts are called “add ons” as you must add this total to the amount you calculated on the child support calculator.

Step 6. If there is shared custody, then often the table amount from the child support calculator will be reduced.  There is no set formula for doing this – it depends on the parents’ financial abilities and the needs of the children.  One common practice is to calculate the table amount using the child support calculator that each parent would pay, and to subtract the lower amount from the higher amount.

Step 7.  It’s not quite over!  Child support not only includes monthly payments, but normally also includes ensuring that the children are on the payer’s extended health and dental benefit plans.  It also normally means that the payer must take out life insurance to cover their future child support payment should they pass away before their child support obligation ends.

Additional Information

Learn more about child support in our comprehensive child support book:

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