ANSWERS 

To Frequently Asked Questions

I am getting support under the guidelines, but who pays for the extra costs of bringing up the kids, like hockey and music lessons?

Section 7 of the guidelines allows the court to require the non-custodial parent to contribute additional amounts for special or extraordinary expenses. While items such as child care to enable a parent to work are added on, the court will only consider "extraordinary expenses for extracurricular expenses".

Recent amendments to the Manitoba and Federal Guidelines indicate that extraordinary expenses are those beyond the means of the parent who is in receipt of child support.  If that is not necessarily the case the court can look at other factors such as:

• the relationship of the expense to the claimant’s income and child support,

• the nature and number of the educational programs and extracurricular activities,

• any special needs and talents of the child or children,

• the overall cost of the programs and activities, and

• any other similar factor that the court con­siders relevant.

The expenses must also meet the test of necessity and reasonability.  Sometimes hockey and music lessons will be accepted and other times not.  See the discussion in News and Views of two recent Manitoba Cases.

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