Vancouver step parent child support lawyers assist clients in claiming or defending basic child support and special and extraordinary child support claims. Our skilled Vancouver Step Parent Child Support lawyers handle self employed payor cases, shared parenting cases and over the age of majority Vancouver child support cases as well as tricky cases involving step parents.
Delay in dealing with this thorny issue can be fatal financially so call us now across BC at 1-877-602-9900. We have offices in Kelowna, Surrey, Fort St John and Vancouver.
Vancouver Step Parent Child Support
What is the support obligation of a step parent compared to a natural parent and what are the rules?
Lorne N. MacLean, QC head of our Vancouver Step Parent Child Support team, has handled BC Appeal Court cases where he acted for a step parent in making a claim against a biological father. Our top rated Vancouver child support lawyers think it important that our clients understand how step parent child support works.
This blog posts expands on previous posts concerning a stepparents’ obligation to financially support stepchildren after the spousal relationship ends.
How Does Vancouver Step Parent Child Support Work?
Our Vancouver Step Parent Child Support lawyers are happy to explain how the various legislation affects child support liability and the amount to be paid by a step parent.
Your obligations as a stepparent may arise under the following:
- The Divorce Act
- The Family Law Act
- The Federal Child Support Guidelines
- The Divorce Act
If you stand in the place of the parent for your ex-spouse’s child, he or she is presumed to be a child of the marriage. Factors to consider in determining whether you stood in the place of a parent include whether you disciplined the child, the extent of the involvement and inclusion of the child with your family and whether you were held out to third parties as the child’s parent.
Our Vancouver step parent child support lawyers know that once you are found to “stand in the place of a parent”, you cannot unilaterally terminate the relationship to avoid your responsibility for support: [1998] Chartier v. Chartier 1 S.C.R. 242.
- The Family Law Act
Your duty to provide support as a stepparent arises if you contributed to the child’s support for at least one year and last contributed to the child’s support within a year and our Vancouver step parent child support lawyers warn you must meet the deadlines to make a claim or you can be barred from doing so.
Where a stepparent’s support obligation is being considered, emphasis is usually placed on the standard of living the child enjoyed while living with the stepparent: H. (U.V.) v. H. (M.W.), 2008 BCCA 177 (cited in Shen v. Tong, 2013 BCCA 519 at para 57).
For example, if you provided a standard of living to your stepchild that was significantly higher than that which his or her biological parents can provide without your contribution, a court may order you to provide an amount of support that will enable your stepchild to continue to enjoy a similar standard of living. The Family Law Act also has some interesting rules on when a step parent’s obligation ends and you should meet with one of our experienced Vancouver Step Parent Child Support lawyers to know your rights.
- The Federal Child Support Guidelines
The Guidelines provide that if you are found to stand in the place of a parent, the amount you will be required to pay may also depend on how much the biological parent pays.
Approaches to calculation the child support obligations of a stepparent
The BC courts have taken several approaches to determining the amount of child support payable by a stepparent under the Guidelines. In Mancuso v. Weinrath, 2005 BCSC 1606, the court reviewed the four main approaches to determining how much child support a stepparent should pay under the Guidelines:
- Non-mathematical: the court does not use any particular equation to determine the step-parent’s liability. Rather, it weighs the factors in the case to determine the extent to which the award should fall below the Guideline amount, if at all. This is the method most frequently applied in British Columbia.
- Subtraction: the court subtracts the payments made by the non-custodial biological parent from the full amount step-parent would be liable to pay under the Guidelines.
- Cumulative: the court makes no deduction from the full amount the step-parent would pay under the Guidelines despite the fact that the biological parent is also paying support. This method is rarely employed in British Columbia.
- Apportionment based on a fair standard of support: the court determines the stepparent’s liability for child support based on the amount of money that is required to maintain a “fair standard of support” for the child and apportions the responsibility for meeting that standard between the parents. The court has suggested three different methods of quantifying the fair standard of support:
- the fair standard of support may be either the table amount for the combined incomes of the separated parties before separation, or the combined table amounts for those incomes;
- it may be the stepparent’s table amount multiplied by two;
- the fair standard of support may be discerned based on evidence of specific expenses the custodial parent incurs to support the child; and
- it may be appropriate to combine the pre- or post-separation incomes of the biological parents and the stepparent and determine the table amount for that income.
If you are concerned about your child support obligations to your stepchildren or need support for your child, call MacLean Law’s Vancouver step parent child support lawyers today at 1-877-602-9900 or fill out our initial consultation form to meet with us fast.
