Mississauga Child Support Lawyer
As a parent, you are legally responsible for the financial support of your children. This is the case whether you are married to or divorced from your child’s other parent, or even if the two of you were never married or never even lived together. Zagazeta Garcia LLP helps clients in Mississauga, Brampton and surrounding areas understand their rights and responsibilities regarding Ontario child support laws. If you are seeking child support or being asked to pay as part of a divorce, separation or other family law matter, call our Mississauga child support lawyers for a free consultation about your particular situation.
Role of Canada and Ontario Child Support Guidelines
Canada child support guidelines are used to determine the amount of child support that will be ordered in a divorce or other family law matter involving child support. These guidelines are typically based on the income of the non-custodial parent and the number of children to be supported. In the case of split custody (each parent has responsibility for at least one of the children) or shared custody (each parent has custody at least 40% of the time), then both parents’ incomes are used.
Depending upon the situation, the applicable child support guidelines may be federal, provincial or territorial guidelines. Also, child support amounts can be found by looking up the amount on the appropriate provincial or territorial table. The applicable table may differ depending upon where each parent lives and the parenting arrangement, whether sole custody, split custody or shared custody applies.
How Zagazeta Garcia Lawyers can Help
It is important to understand that the guidelines are guidelines, and the court can go above or below the guideline amount in certain situations. For instance, the court may go above the guideline amount if there are special expenses for the child, such as childcare, tuition, or extraordinary expenses for health care or extracurricular activities. Likewise, the court may order an amount below the guidelines when paying the guideline amount would pose an undue hardship on the paying parent. These special circumstances have to be proven in court, and the other parent may challenge or oppose a variation from the guideline amount. Our child support lawyers can help make a convincing argument to the court and present the necessary evidence to support your position.
Our lawyers can also help in the essential process of calculating parental income for the purposes of arriving at the correct guidelines amount. This process may involve calculating only the paying parent’s income, or the income of both parents in the case of split or shared custody or in other circumstances. While the income determination may seem like a straightforward process, it can actually be quite complicated. Common complicated situations include when a parent is self-employed, unemployed, receiving disability or other benefits, or is a business owner or investor. Income may be mistakenly or even intentionally underreported, leading to an inaccurate guideline amount. We can help make sure that income is being properly reported for a fair and accurate determination of child support.
Experienced Mississauga Family Lawyers for Your Child Support Matter
For help with child support in your Ontario divorce, separation or other family law matter, contact Zagazeta Garcia Lawyers LLP in Mississauga at 905-232-0398 for a free consultation regarding your rights and responsibilities.
