Child Support for Step-Children
By Jodi Armstrong,
Family Law
The modern family is often made up of several different types of relationships and may include the connection between a step-parent and a step-child. Upon the breakdown of the family or, more specifically, the breakdown of the relationship between the two spouses, one of the issues that will often arise is whether the step-parent has a child support obligation for his or her non-biological children. Many people are surprised to learn that, after separation, there is a very real possibility that a non-biological parent will be required to pay child support for his or her step-children. Such is the case whether the parties were living together in a common law relationship or as a married couple.
The “Parental” Relationship
Whether a non-biological parent will be ordered to pay child support after separation depends on whether he or she voluntarily assumed the role of a parent during the time that the family functioned together as a unit. The Court will need to determine whether a person stood in the place of a parent by considering the nature of the step-parent relationship while the family remained intact. If the person did stand in the place of a parent, the children are entitled to rely on the “parent” as a continued source of financial security. Therefore, a non-biological parent cannot escape an obligation to pay child support by unilaterally ending his or her relationship with a child.
There are no hard-and-fast rules for determining whether a person has stood in the place of a parent and each case will depend on the facts that are specific to the particular family. There are, however, certain factors that a court will consider:
- The child’s opinion regarding his or her relationship with the step-parent is important but is not determinative. The Court will be looking at whether the child accepted the person as a parent (for example, by referring to the person as “mom” or “dad”) or refused to consider this person in a parental role.
- Independent of the child’s opinion, the Court will look at whether the step-parent represented to the child, the family, or to the world, either explicitly or implicitly, that he or she was responsible to the child as a parent. The step-parent’s representations will be indicative of his or her intention to assume a parental role.
- The Court will also look at whether the step-parent financially provided for the child during the relationship.
- Whether a child participates in the step-parent’s extended family in the same way as would a biological child demonstrates whether the child was treated as a member of the step-parent’s family.
- The level of involvement and the degree to which the step-parent became involved in the child’s life is a key factor. Did the step-parent attend parent teacher interviews? Did the step-parent participate in the child’s extracurricular activities? Did the step-parent discipline the child as a parent?
- The nature or existence of the child’s relationship with the other biological parent (the biological parent who is not the step-parent’s spouse) is taken into consideration as a factor that is related to the nature of the relationship between step-parent and child. In today’s world of blended families, however, it is certainly possible for a step-parent to stand in the place of a parent while the child continues to enjoy a positive relationship with the other biological parent.
The Monthly Amount
Generally speaking, a parent’s monthly child support obligation is the amount set out in the applicable table for the province in which the payor parent resides.
The Department of Justice has a Child Support Online Lookup that is useful for determining basic table child support amounts according to the number of children for whom the parent has an obligation and the parent’s annual gross income.
When child support is being sought from a non-biological parent who has been found to stand in the place of a parent, however, the Court has discretion to determine an amount of child support which may differ from the table amount. The amount of support is that which the Court considers “appropriate” and is determined having regard to (a) the amount payable pursuant to the guidelines; and (b) any other parent’s duty to support the child.
For step-parents, there aren’t any clear guidelines for determining an appropriate support amount and each case will depend on its own unique facts. In many cases, the step-parent is ordered to pay the full table amount of child support. The courts have been clear that a biological parent cannot seek to reduce his or her child support obligation based on the existence of a step-parent who is also paying support. It is always open to a step-parent, however, to argue that, based on the child’s needs, after taking into account the biological parents’ contributions, the table amount of support would be inappropriate.
Conclusion
Once an adult has voluntarily assumed a parental role for a child, he or she will not be permitted to simply cast aside parental responsibility once the spousal relationship has ended. Although the amount of step-parent support is discretionary, once an individual stands in the place of a parent for non-biological children, there is a very good chance that he or she will have a child support obligation post-separation.
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The above is not intended to constitute
legal advice. Please contact a lawyer to clarify your
legal rights.
