What Happens to Child Support Arrears if the Payor Dies in Ontario?

How unpaid child support arrears are treated when the payor dies depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer; the rules below cover the support order itself and a child's own claim. Under the Family Law Act, an order for support binds the estate of the person with the support obligation unless the order provides otherwise. Check your order's wording, because it may say something different.

A court that makes a support order may also require a parent with life insurance to designate the other spouse or a child as beneficiary irrevocably. A child the deceased was supporting, or legally obliged to support, immediately before death is a dependant under the Succession Law Reform Act, and the court may order support from the estate if the deceased did not make adequate provision.

Timing matters: an application must be made within six months from the grant of letters probate or administration, although the court may allow a later application for any part of the estate not yet distributed. If the order was made under the Divorce Act, whether it binds the estate is not settled in the same way, so get legal advice early. If you are an estate trustee, raise this with a lawyer before distributing anything.