Support for Children

Generally

Child support is the obligation of every parent. Regulations pursuant to the Family Maintenance Act govern child support cases in this province whereas regulations under the Divorce Act govern those cases where the parties live in separate provinces. These laws set out a regime whereby the amount of support payable is determined by reference to the payor's income and provincial child support tables.

As of June 1, 1998, the "tables" apply to all children in Manitoba, whether or not the child’s parents are married.

The amount of support payable under the tables is dependent only on the non-custodial parent’s income and the number of children. The guidelines are strictly followed and the court has little discretion to deviate from them.

Federal Child Support Guidelines

The Federal Child Support Guidelines were passed into law on May 1, 1997 and apply to divorce cases in each province, except those provinces, including Manitoba, that have passed their own guidelines.  They can be found here.

Manitoba Child Support Guidelines

The Manitoba Child Support Guidelines apply to all children in the province, with minor exception, whether their parents were married or not, or whether they are divorcing or only separating. The Manitoba guidelines are very similar to the federal ones, but there are important differences. The tables are the same, whether under federal divorce legislation or Manitoba's legislation.

Financial Disclosure

Because the Guidelines are income driven, they contain extensive provision for financial disclosure. A party can demand complete financial disclosure annually, including copies of tax returns and assessments for the preceding three years (if not previously supplied), a statement of income for the year-to-date, and other information if the payor is in business or a partnership.

Failure to provide disclosure can lead to serious consequences, fines or payment of the other party's legal costs.

The court can "impute income" where it is of the view that the documentation provided does not show a true picture or if the payor is underemployed.

Retroactive Child Support

The Supreme Court of Canada in a ruling dealing with 4 cases out of Albert has ruled that child support is the "right of the child" and that retroactive child support is appropriate where the payor's income has increased.  See our Case Comment.

Recalculation of Child Support Orders

The original enactment of the Federal Child Support Guidelines envisioned the automatic recalculation of child support orders based on annual reviews of the parties' incomes.  The idea was that the parties would attend upon a court-appointed officer with their tax returns in hand and have their orders adjusted appropriately.  This has not yet happened on the federal level but a few of the provinces, including Manitoba, have created their own recalculation service.

Manitoba's newly inaugurated service deals only with orders granted under The Family Maintenance Act, for the meantime.  For more information on the Recalculation Service and how it works click here.