Child Support in Alberta
In Alberta, child support ensures that children receive the financial resources they need to grow and thrive. Both parents have a legal obligation to support their children until they reach the age of majority, which is 18 in Alberta. Under the Divorce Act (Canada) and the Family Law Act (Alberta), children over 18 may still be entitled to support if they have a mental or physical disability, or if they are enrolled full-time in a post-secondary program, maintaining passing grades, and living at home with a parent.
Child support is the right of the child, not the parent, which means a parent cannot agree to waive or give up this support.
Free Consultation
A Calgary family law lawyer can help calculate and enforce support obligations. If you have concerns you are not receiving appropriate child support, or that you are overpaying child support based on your income or parenting arrangement, please contact us for a free consultation at: (403) 288-0009 or by email at murray@bodnaruklaw.com
There are two types of child support:
In addition to Section 3 child support, the parties are legally required to contribute towards Section 7 child support for the children. Section 7 Expenses are defined as “special or extraordinary expenses” that are:
- necessary because they are in the children’s best interests; and
- reasonable given the means of the parents and the children and considering the family’s spending patterns.
Special or extraordinary expenses (Section 7 Expenses) include:
- childcare expenses that may be incurred as the result of a job, an illness, a disability, or educational requirements for employment;
- the portion of medical and dental insurance premiums that provides coverage for the children;
- the children’s health-care needs that exceeds $100 per year if the cost is not covered by insurance (for example, orthodontics, counselling, medication, or eye care);
- expenses for post secondary education;
- extraordinary expenses for the children’s primary education, secondary education, or any other educational program that meets the children’s particular needs; and
- extraordinary expenses for the children’s extracurricular activities.
Generally, parents share Section 7 Expenses in proportion to their respective incomes, although they can agree to share the expenses in a different way.