When you and your co-parent live apart, you must make arrangements for your children’s financial support. Negotiating an acceptable child support arrangement or going to court to ask a judge to execute a child support order is just the first step. Parents must then arrange to make and receive the payments.
An experienced family lawyer could assist you in navigating the process of child support payments in Toronto. At The Riley Divorce & Family Law Firm, our team of lawyers could help to ensure both parties adhere to their side of the order.
Some parents can use Ontario’s online service to set up child support payments. If you are eligible, the online service can calculate the amount of support required and set up the mechanisms for making payments and distributing them to the recipient.
For various reasons, many parents are not eligible to use the online system. Instead, they can negotiate a child support agreement based on the table amount derived from the federal guidelines, plus expenses and any necessary adjustments. A Toronto lawyer could create a written child support order based on the couple’s agreement and submit it to the court, which will issue it as an enforceable order.
Although it is not strictly necessary for a couple to submit their child support agreement to the court, doing so provides critical protections to both parties and the children. Court orders are modifiable and enforceable, and they are automatically sent to the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), which records, collects, and disburses child support payments.
As a family lawyer would advise, direct payment of child support has numerous disadvantages. It puts the recipient parent in a subordinate position to the paying parent, which can be dangerous in some situations. In addition, no official record of the transaction exists, and significant arrears might accumulate before a recipient acts to enforce the child support obligation.
To alleviate these concerns, Ontario directs all co-parents to make child support payments through the FRO. When the FRO receives a child support order, it contacts the payer’s employer and arranges to deduct the child support obligation directly from their paycheque.
The FRO forwards the payment to the recipient parent, typically by direct deposit into their bank or credit union account. In most cases, payments are deposited within two days of receipt. Our family lawyers in Toronto could answer your questions on the steps involved in receiving child support.
When a payer is self-employed, derives their income from sources other than employment, or has a valid reason to decline direct deduction, they have another option. Ontario’s Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act S.28 allows a judge to issue an alternative payment order.
A court must find that it would be unconscionable to deduct the child support payment directly from the payer’s income. This might occur if a payer was experiencing severe financial strain. A payer could also request an alternative payment order if the recipient spouse agrees and the payer offers four months’ payment as security for their obligation.
Although an alternative payment order does not require automatic deduction of the child support payment, it does not remove or modify the obligation in any way. It only allows a payer to make their payments directly to the FRO, rather than through automatic deductions. A family lawyer in Toronto could review your specific situation and advise you on whether requesting an alternative child maintenance payment arrangement is appropriate.
Ontario does not permit direct child support payments between the payer and the recipient. Instead, co-parents must make payments through the FRO.
If you have questions about the process of child support payments in Toronto, talk with one of the lawyers at The Riley Divorce & Family Law Firm. We are available 24 hours a day, so get in touch with us as soon as possible.
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