Child Support Lawyers in Calgary
Child Support Lawyers
Our Calgary child support lawyers take some of the mystery out of child support. We help you understand the different components of child support. Understanding payments, often assists in alleviating fears parents face, when unsure about how much they pay or receive. We also help you understand your rights and obligations to child support. The child support lawyers at Kahane Law Office in Calgary, Alberta assist in calculating, evaluating, contesting and altering child support payments.
What Is Child Support In Alberta?
Child support payments include funds made from one parent to another to support a child. The intention of these payments is to help with the raising and upbringing of your child. It does not matter if you were married to, common law with or in any type of relationship with the person with whom you had a child. As these are obligations to the child, not a parent, a parent does not have the ability to waive properly child support guidelines. Click here to learn more about retroactive child support claims and how to avoid such an issue. Questions about paternity to determine the application of support? We help with paternity testing as well.
Alberta Child Support Laws
The Family Law Act is the Alberta law that deals with child support. The Family Law Act replaces a number of old Acts that dealt with divorce, the Matrimonial Property Act, Parentage and Maintenance Act and the Domestic relations Act. Our child support lawyers understand this act and know how to best represent you in any dispute you may be in. Click here if you want to learn more about moving with Children after divorce.
Child Support Calculations In Alberta?
There are several factors in determining child support payments. Our child support lawyers can help you understand what you are entitled to or responsible for with respect to support. Some of the factors looked in determining child support include the following:
Basic Child Support Guideline Amounts
The federal government in Canada establishes the amount of child support a parent pays. The amounts set out in the federal child support guidelines are key to the basic component of support payments. The federal government sets out a table that outlines these payments for individuals living in Alberta. Therefore, payments made will be based on number of children you have and the amount of income you and/or the other parent makes.
Child Custody Affects Payments
Where parents essentially share custody (50/50 – 60/40 splits in time), calculations are made under the federal guidelines. The amounts owing form one parent to the other, result from the netting of the difference between the individual parent’s payments. Payment of the resulting amount goes to the lower income earning parent. If one parent has custody the majority of the time, then payments are made just to that parent.
Special and Extraordinary Expenses
Lastly, our lawyers look at special and extraordinary expenses. This aspect of support is most disputed. Our child support lawyers will represent you to protect your interests. These expenses include amounts that are required for the care of your child that are in addition to regular living
expenses. Every situation will be different when it comes to special and extraordinary expenses. This happens because the court look at the individual child, the parents’ income, as well as, the type of programs that the child participated in prior to his or her parents’ separation, and many more. Many examples of special and extraordinary expenses exist. For example, they include:- Camps;
- Special activities;
- After school care;
- Medical and dental premiums;
- Uninsured health care expenses;
- Day care costs;
- University or other post secondary education;
- Private school; and lastly
- Extracurricular activities
Learn More About Section 7 Extraordinary Child Support Payments Here.
Changing Child Support Payments
The law and the courts understand that sometimes situations and circumstance change. Consequently, if you make or receive support payments for your child, know that these amounts are not set in stone. Distinct rules exist which set out how and when child support payment changes occur. Our child support lawyers assist parents when a parent is either over or under paying in the circumstance.
Learn More with Our Video
In order to help you understand this issue better we have put together a short video on support payments. Watch our video her to learn about how child support lawyers deal with support issues. We also have free family law information links here.
Our Child Support Lawyers Help With Your Support Disputes
As a firm we pride ourselves on exceptional service. Part of that service is understanding the challenging situations that clients face when dealing with child support issues. That is easy to say and more difficult to prove. Recognition by third party evaluators over the years led our firm to receiving, the Top Choice Awards as the Top Family Law Firm in Calgary.
Lastly, to schedule a appointment with one of our child support lawyers to discuss your entitlements and obligations, please contact our experienced team at Kahane Law Office. We help parents with support issues regularly. You can reach us toll-free at 1-877-225-8817, 403-225-8810 locally in Calgary, Alberta or email us directly here.