She Earns More Than I do So Why Don’t I Get a Break on Child Support?

Child support payments are based on the Child Support Guidelines, which in Ontario are identical under provincial (Family Law Act) and under federal (Divorce Act) legislation.  They fall into two categories: “Guideline Table Support” and “Contribution to Section 7 Expenses”.  Guideline Table Support is based solely on the gross annual income of the payor parent and the number of children, period, and this amount is not affected by the income of the recipient parent. The recipient parent’s income only gets considered when setting the payor parent’s contribution to section 7 expenses.  The bottom line – even if your wife wins the lottery, your Guideline Table amount will not change.