How Child Support Is Calculated in BC: Income, Guidelines and Parenting Time

Child support in British Columbia is calculated by a method, not by a judge's guess. Knowing the steps lets you see where your numbers come from and where your facts could change the result.

Below is the usual sequence. Each step has exceptions, so treat this as a map and not as a prediction of your own result.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

Step 1: Which law applies

Under the BC Family Law Act, parents and guardians must support their children, and orders must follow the child support guidelines. If you are applying under the Divorce Act, the court must also make the order in accordance with the applicable guidelines. Either way, the Federal Child Support Guidelines supply the tables and the method.

Step 2: Work out the payor's income

Annual income is generally taken from the Total income heading of the T1 General tax form, adjusted under Schedule III. Where income fluctuates, the court may look at the last three years. An applicant must include the other parent's tax returns for the three most recent taxation years, and the respondent must give income documents within 30 days if in Canada or the U.S., or 60 days elsewhere.

Some situations call for closer attention:

• Self-employed or corporate payors: the court may include all or part of the corporation's pre-tax income, or an amount commensurate with the services provided, capped at the corporation's pre-tax income.
• Imputed income: the court may impute income where a parent is intentionally under-employed or unemployed, property is not reasonably used to generate income, or expenses are unreasonably deducted.
• Non-resident payors: income is determined as though the parent lived in Canada, but if the parent lives in a country with significantly higher tax rates, the court determines an appropriate amount.
• Agreed income: if both parents agree in writing on a parent's income, the court may accept it if it is reasonable given the income information.

Step 3: Find the table amount

The presumptive amount is the Schedule I table amount for the payor's province, plus any section 7 expense amount. Using the BC table, you find the number of children and the income row, then take the basic amount plus a percentage of income over the row's floor. For one child and $50,000 of income, the monthly table amount is $468.

The table uses the payor's income only. If the payor earns more than $150,000, the court may apply the table or set the table amount for the first $150,000 plus an appropriate amount for the rest.

Step 4: Check parenting time

The straight table amount assumes one parent pays and the other has the child most of the time. Parenting time can change that:

• Shared parenting: if each parent has not less than 40% of parenting time over a year, the court must consider each parent's table amount (set-off), the increased costs of shared arrangements and each parent's circumstances.
• Split parenting: where each parent has the majority of time with at least one of two or more children, support is the difference between the amounts each would pay.

Support and parenting time are separate issues. A payor cannot withhold support over parenting disputes, and a parent cannot refuse parenting time because support is behind.

Step 5: Add section 7 expenses

On a parent's request, the court may add amounts for child care tied to work, illness, disability or training; the child's share of medical and dental premiums; health costs above insurance by at least $100 a year; extraordinary school costs; post-secondary education; and extraordinary extracurricular costs.

These are shared in proportion to the parents' incomes after any contribution the child can make, and the court must account for related subsidies, benefits and tax credits. For school and extracurricular costs, extraordinary means more than the requesting parent can reasonably cover, so ordinary-sized costs are not added.

Other adjustments and next steps

A court can award a different amount to prevent undue hardship, and can depart from the guidelines where parties consent or have an agreement and reasonable arrangements exist for the child. When the court departs, it must give reasons.

• If you are the applicant, include the other parent's personal income tax returns for the three most recent taxation years, and gather your own income records as well.
• Gather records of child care, medical and school costs.
• Keep a calendar of actual parenting time over the year.
• If either parent is self-employed or owns a corporation, gather financial statements and ask a lawyer or accountant how income may be counted.
• Get legal advice before signing an agreement that departs from the table.

Frequently asked questions