Lorne MacLean, QC the founder of MacLean Law, handles a number of high income BC child support guideline disputes. MacLean Law routinely negotiates, mediates and litigates BC child support disputes on behalf of paying and recipient spouses.
How Do BC Child Support Guidelines Work?
Did you know before 1997 that BC child support was tax deductible by the paying parent and taxable in the hands of the receiving parent? As the guidelines now approach nearly 20 years of age, most separated spouses are aware that guidelines are a set of rules and tables for calculating the amount of support that a paying parent should contribute toward his or her children.
The BC Child Support Guidelines “CSG” consider three main factors:
- the annual income of the paying parent (and in shared custody and section 7 special expense cases the receiving spouse too);
- the number of children the separated spouses have;
- where the paying parent lives.
What About High Income BC Child Support Cases?
The guidelines work well for setting fair amounts of support up to $150,000 but above that the BC Child Support Guidelines may amount in payments that exceed the true needs of the child. Such excessive child support payments may result in an unintended functional wealth transfer to the paying parent’s ex-spouse. In practice paying spouses are unlikely to get relief from a straight application of the table amount until their income approaches $1,000,000.
If you have a high income and are involved in a BC child support case or you seek fair child support from a wealthy paying parent, you need to get focused legal advice from a lawyer like Lorne MacLean, QC who handles these cases daily.
MacLean Law High Income BC Child Support Win On Income Over $150,000
Lorne MacLean QC’s, ARJ v. ZJ case is frequently relied upon in BC courts for high net worth spousal support and child support issues, for double dipping arguments and for how the income of a professional should be calculated.
The BC Supreme Court Justice succinctly stated the onus on the paying spouse on the law of child support when the payor spouse earns over $150,000. To succeed in obtaining a lower amount than a straight child support guideline calculation, the paying spouse must prove:
Child Support
[38] Under section 4 of the Child Support Guidelines if the payor makes more than $150,000 annually, then the court has the discretion to either increase or decrease the table amount, if the table amount would be unsuitable given the conditions, needs and means of the children and the parties: see Francis v. Baker, 1999 659 (SCC), [1999] 3 S.C.R. 250, 1777 D.L.R. (4th) 1.
[39] The presumption is that the table amount is appropriate and the party seeking a different amount must rebut that presumption with clear and compelling evidence: Hollenback v. Hollenback, 2000 BCCA 620 , 2000 BCCA 620.
[40] In the circumstances I find that child support is payable in the amount of $8771 per month.
The combined spousal and child support award together with private school fees and other add on expenses totalled nearly $30,000 a month.
If you wonder what the dollar amount of spousal and child support you are entitled to and what your chances are of departing fro the BC child support guidelines or the Spousal support advisory guidelines we recommend you meet with our experienced BC child support lawyers at any of our 4 offices across BC located in Vancouver, Kelowna, Surrey and Fort St John, BC.
