Special or Extraordinary Expenses  - "Add-Ons"

Provision is made for additional amounts to be paid where there are "extraordinary" or "special expenses". These "add-ons" must be reasonable, having regard to the means of the parents and the child, necessary in relation to the child’s best interests, and bear a relationship to the family’s spending pattern prior to the separation. In Manitoba, only the custodial parent can apply for add-ons. 

Section 7 expenses are treated somewhat differently in Manitoba compared to the Federal Guidelines and other provinces, so be extremely careful in reviewing case law from other provinces.  The differences have recently been narrowed by amendments to the Federal Guidelines.

The add-ons must fall into specific categories, as set out in the legislation, for:

• child care expenses to allow the custodial parent to work or train for employment
• health-related expenses, as itemized
• extraordinary expenses for education
• expenses for post-secondary education
• extraordinary expenses for extracurricular activities.

The Manitoba Court of Appeal has taken a rather restrictive view with respect to the extraordinary expenses claims, unlike other Courts of Appeal across the country, so the matter is not without controversy.

Apportionment of Add-ons

Once the court accepts the expense, it will usually apportion it between the parents, after deduction from the parent's incomes the "threshold amount" below which no child support is payable and any Schedule III deductions such as union dues. 

The guiding principle in the law is that the parents should share the expense proportionally to their respective means but, in appropriate circumstances, the court may deviate from that formula.