As COVID continues to ravage our economy, Canadians are applying in droves for employment insurance. Almost a million Canadians claimed employment insurance benefits in the span of one week between March 16 and March 22. This large-scale drop in Canadian incomes brings about a new normal. That new normal is a lower income in 2020.
Divorced parents who are obligated to pay child support
Section 2(3) of the Child Support Guidelines states that “where, for the purposes of these Guidelines, any amount is determined on the basis of specified information, the most current information must be used.” Well, at this moment, that information is no or low income, which translates into a suspension of child support or at least a significant drop.
Since child support is reviewable on an annual basis, some parents are maintaining the regular child support payments. This means, even if it is coming from savings or debt. This
will adjust for it later when the annual amount is reviewed. Others who have no savings or available credit may have no choice other than to recalculate child support. [Beware: there are some self-employed payers of child support who are exploiting the situation by using COVID to unnecessarily reduce or stop child support].
Under the Family Law Rules, court orders or Separation Agreements for child support may be changed by a specific process called a Rule 15 Motion To Change. In most Ontario courts, the number of applications to reduce child support have historically been so high. There are many such claims and due to the large volume, these applications are directed to a Dispute Resolution Officers (i.e. senior lawyers, not judges). COVID will certainly overwhelm the courts with such applications, especially for those that do not have their historical income resume. Time will tell how Ontarions and the court system will cope with this dilemma.
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