Spousal Support and Child Support Together: How Ontario Calculates Both

If you are separating with children, you may face two support claims at once. Parents often ask which is set first, whether paying one cuts the other, and how income is shared out.

This article walks through how the two fit together in Ontario. The actual figures depend on your incomes, your parenting arrangements and the facts of your case, so a lawyer should confirm any numbers.

Child support comes first

Under the Divorce Act, when a court is deciding both child support and spousal support, it must give child support priority. How the two fit together if you are unmarried or are not divorcing depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

This is why a spousal support range under the with-child-support formula is sometimes zero. A zero range is not the same as no entitlement, and may simply reflect a current inability to pay.

How the with-child-support formula works

The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG) are not law, but judges often base their decisions on them. Under the with-child-support formula, the range is the amount of spousal support that leaves the lower-income recipient with 40% to 46% of the couple's combined Individual Net Disposable Income (INDI).

INDI is income after child support, taxes and deductions. That means child support is part of the calculation before the spousal range is set, and exactly how the two amounts affect each other depends on your incomes and parenting arrangements, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

Duration and outer limits

Under the with-child-support formula, initial orders are indefinite but have outer limits that apply on review or variation. The upper limit is the longer of the length of the marriage or the date the youngest child finishes high school. The lower limit is the longer of half the length of the marriage or the date the youngest child starts full-time school.

Indefinite does not necessarily mean permanent. It means no time limit can be set when the order or agreement is made, and the support stays subject to variation and review.

When child support changes later

If giving child support priority meant spousal support was not ordered or was reduced, a later reduction or end of that child support counts as a change of circumstances. The recipient can then apply for spousal support or a variation.

Under the Divorce Act, a court can vary, rescind or suspend a spousal support order, retroactively or prospectively, on an application by either or both former spouses. Before varying a spousal support order, the court must be satisfied that either former spouse's circumstances have changed since the order or the last variation. Only a court can change an order, through a motion to change.

Practical points and next steps

Several things can move the numbers. Courts can impute income to a spouse who is not working but should be, and minimum wage can be imputed readily, while anything higher requires evidence. The SSAG apply to interim orders too, and where income evidence is thin, ranges can be estimated using alternative income figures. Ontario's spousal support page links to a free online SSAG calculator, which considers only employment income and simple calculations.

Courts can also go outside the ranges on recognized grounds, including debt payments, prior support obligations, illness and disability, property division, hardship and a child's special needs.

• Collect recent tax returns and notices of assessment for both parents.
• Write down the parenting schedule and who pays for child care and other child costs.
• List debts and any existing support obligations to other people.
• Do not rely on an online calculator alone, since it may miss income types.
• Ask a family lawyer to run both calculations together before you agree to anything.

Frequently asked questions