Expenses for the child: Who pays what after a divorce or separation?

Support covers two types of expenses:

• expenses for the child’s basic needs
• specific expenses included in the child support calculation

Expenses for the child’s basic needs

According to the law, the child’s basic needs include:

• food
• accommodation
• communications
• housekeeping
• personal care
• clothing
• furniture
• transportation
• a portion of leisure activities

Expenses under these budget items are therefore covered by child support.

Therefore, groceries, clothing, hygiene products, or furniture for your child’s bedroom might be considered expenses for basic needs and covered by child support.

Important

Some expenses for leisure activities may not be considered basic needs. It depends primarily on the yearly cost for the activity.

Specific expenses included in the child support calculation

When calculating support, other expenses may be included, such as those for childcare services, post-secondary education, etc.

To find out if this applies to you, consult lines 403 to 406 of the Child Support Determination Form or the judgment setting the amount of support.

Expenses for the child’s basic needs

If the expense is for a basic need, who pays for it depends on how often it must be paid.

For current expenses (e.g., rent, electricity, groceries, etc.), each parent pays for the expense when the child is under their responsibility.

For occasional expenses (e.g., winter coat, registration in public school, school supplies, leisure activity, etc.), responsibility for payment depends on how custody is divided between the parents.

• If the child spends almost the same amount of time with each parent (“shared custody” ), both parents must contribute to these expenses in proportion to their custody time, even if one parent pays the other parent support.
  
  
  Example:
  If your child needs a new winter coat and is in 50-50 shared custody, one of you buys the coat and the other has to reimburse the purchaser 50% of the price.

• If the child spends most of the time with the parent who receives the support (“sole custody” ), that parent pays for these expenses. The parent who pays support does not have to pay an additional contribution.

Specific expenses included in the child support calculation

If the specific expense is included when calculating support, the parent responsible for paying is determined at the same time the amounts are taken into account.

According to the law, there are three types of expenses “relating to the child”:

• Childcare expenses: These are expenses required so that a parent can hold employment or study, or because of the parent's health condition, for example.
  
  
  Examples: childcare service, day camp, babysitting.
• Post-secondary education expenses: These are expenses incurred so that the child may pursue studies after high school.
  
  
  Examples: college tuition, university tuition, cost of pedagogical materials, transportation or accommodation expenses incurred for post-secondary studies.
• Special expenses: These are expenses linked to the needs required by the child’s particular situation.
  
  
  Examples: medical expenses, psychological care, orthodontist, prosthetics, orthotics, glasses, private school tuition, registration fees for an extracurricular sports or cultural activity, sports equipment, musical instrument, etc.
  Important

  Sometimes, certain expenses for sports or cultural activities are considered expenses that meet the child’s basic needs and are therefore already covered by child support. It depends primarily on the yearly cost of the activity.

You and your ex must both contribute to these expenses, in proportion to your respective incomes.

The expenses must be reasonable, however. That means they must take into account the parents’ financial means and meet the child’s needs.

To learn how much each parent must pay, apply the percentages in line 307 of the Child support determination form to the “net” amount of the expense.

The “net” amount is the amount remaining after any advantage, subsidy, deduction, or tax credit, including any sum granted for student financial assistance (e.g., bursaries ), has been deducted.