Surrey Retroactive Child Support.
What happens when a paying spouses income declines and they cannot pay child support and can’t afford to hire a lawyer to reduce the support to a proper level?
In the old days it was very hard to cancel arrears when the paying spouse didn’t immediately return to court to reduce the support to the proper level. A new section of our Family Law Act was designed to fix this financial catch 22 for paying spouses involved in a Surrey retroactive child support case.
Use this free calculator to ensure you are paying or receiving the right amount so you can bring a timely application for Surrey Retroactive Child Support.
Changing, suspending or terminating orders respecting child support
Q. So what is the section that permits a fair correction of Surrey Retroactive Child Support?
A. Section 152
152 (1) On application, a court may change, suspend or terminate an order respecting child support, and may do so prospectively or retroactively.
Q. What are the rules and test to be used in a Surrey Retroactive Child Support application?
A. (2) Before making an order under subsection (1), the court must be satisfied that at least one of the following exists, and take it into consideration:
(a) a change in circumstances, as provided for in the child support guidelines, has occurred since the order respecting child support was made;
(b) evidence of a substantial nature that was not available during the previous hearing has become available;
(c) evidence of a lack of financial disclosure by a party was discovered after the last order was made.
- The change in circumstances has to be one that would have led the original Judge hearing the case to make a different order for the amount and duration of child support.
- It can be an involuntary job loss or income reduction.
- You cannot change jobs to a lower paying job unless it makes good financial sense such as taking short term retraining to earn more or going back to school to earn a afar better paying job.
- In shared custody cases the income changes of both parents are important.
Here is what the government website that explains the new BC Family Law Act says about Surrey Retroactive Child Support:
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Section 152 describes the circumstances under which a court may change, suspend or terminate an order respecting child support.
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It expressly provides for retroactive variation of child support orders, if appropriate. Often arrears accrue as a result of blameworthy conduct, in which case arrears are not easily reduced. However, under the Family Relations Act, payors sometimes experienced hardship where their income was reduced but they could not get their order changed in a timely manner and, therefore, were in arrears of child support through no fault of their own. Retroactive variation will allow for these situations to be appropriately remedied.
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The section expands on and clarifies the circumstances under which a court may vary a child support order. In addition to a change in circumstances, as provided for in the Child Support Guidelines, a court may also change an order if there is evidence of a substantial nature that was not available previously or evidence of a lack of financial disclosure. This will discourage payors from hiding income and ensure they do not financially benefit from doing so at the expense of their children.
Surrey Retroactive Child Support cases should be made promptly to avoid over or under payments of support. Delay in a family case involving Surrey Retroactive Child Support is never a good thing. Call us at 604-576-5400 in Surrey to meet with us to create a strategy to ensure your children and you have fair child support paid.
