Ending Child Support

Many people do not realize when a court order is made for them to pay child support that it doesn’t end when the child turns eighteen. While there is no definite end date for child support, normally it ends when a child finished their first post-secondary degree. However, there is a trend in the courts to extend this length of time. There have been a few cases where child support has been payable for additional degrees. This is particularly the case where one or both parents have more than one post-secondary degree – i.e. a doctor may find that they must pay child support while their children are in medical school.

Even if your child finishes their education, you need to take legal action to end your child support. You must either go back to court and get an order that child support is over, or negotiate an agreement with the other parent that says this.

People are often confused and irritated that the support keeps being deducted from their account or pay cheque when child support is no longer payable. So, they telephone the Family Responsibility Office and tell them to stop the deductions. However, the Family Responsibility Office can’t do anything to help. They are just an enforcement agency – they enforce the existing court order or separation agreement until there is a new court order or separation agreement. You simply must get a new court order or separation agreement regarding child support for it to end. This is obviously frustrating, because to many people it means another frustrating and expensive court appearance, all because they believe they should stop paying child support.

You should act right away to end child support. This is because if there is a delay, courts generally won’t ask the recipient parent to pay back child support. Given the delays in the court system, it makes sense to start this process 3 or 4 months prior to your child ending school.

Related Articles

  • Child Support Canada – How does the child support system in Canada work?
  • Special or Extraordinary Expenses – Do I need to pay more than the amount required by the Ontario Child Support Guidelines?

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