Child Support: Can I just pay the child directly?

Not a week goes by that I do not hear the question: “can I pay child support directly to him/her (the child)?”. This question is usually followed by a discussion of why he or she (the other parent) is not spending the child support on the child. In this parent’s theory, the other parent is using the child support funds to go on extravagant trips and other luxury items that are not related to the child’s care. Hence, “why can’t I just pay him/her directly? Then atleast I will know that the funds are going toward the intended purpose.”

The answer to this question is that courts rarely allow child support payments to be made directly to a child; it is the exception rather than the rule. Courts in Canada have stated that compelling reasons must exist for payments to be made directly to a child. In Mylrea v. Benoit, 2003 CanLII 1975 (ON SC), the Ontario Superior Court responded as follows to a father’s request to set up a trust to pay child support directly to the children:

[31]      Mr. Mylrea requests the right to limit the amount of child support that goes directly to Ms. Benoit to the sum of $248.00 each month, with the balance to be paid into a trust account for the benefit of the children.  Again, even if I were inclined to do that – and I am not in the least – authority prevents me from doing so.  In Simon v. Simon (2000) 1999 CanLII 3818 (ON CA), 1 RFL (5th) 119 (Ont.C.A.), MacPherson, J.A., in delivering the judgment of the court, said this (at page 134 of the Report):

 ——-

It may be that in some cases a court imposed trust to secure funds for a child’s future care and education would be appropriate.  However, in my view, absent a good reason for imposing a trust, the court should not do so.  The presumption should be that a custodial parent will do his or her best to provide for both the child’s immediate needs and his or her future care and education.  Unless there is strong evidence establishing the need for a trust (e.g. the misuse of support payments by the custodial parent) I see no reason to interfere with the way in which the parent balances the present and future needs of the child in his or her custody.

                                                                (emphasis added)

In L. B. L. v. S. B., 2010 NBQB 339 (CanLII), Justice Walsh of the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick dealt with a situation where the payor mother was attempting to create her own system of child support payments to her child on the grounds that the father wasted funds meant for the child:

[65]      On the totality of the evidence it is clear that the mother cannot stand the thought of paying child support directly to the father, despite the absence of any cogent evidence that the father was wasting the sums that he did receive through garnishment. By any means, by any claim, the mother has now sought to create her own system, to permit her to directly support or reward the children for her own purposes, to ignore the law’s requirements. The receipted claims she made in this case and the claims she has filed with Revenue Canada constitute clear evidence of her present approach. The irony is that the vast majority of the arrears that were terminated in May 2009 were for a period when the mother was having little, if any, contact with the children, and the children would appear to have forever lost this money owed to them (See: Beninger v. Beninger 2009 BCCA 145 (CanLII)).

[66]      In these circumstances I apply Swiderski v. Dussault:

While D.B.S. [v. S.R.G. et. al., 2006 SCC 37 (CanLII)] at para. 109, opens the theoretical possibility that the payor parent can justify himself by showing total payments equivalent to the Guidelines amounts, this, I suggest, presupposes candour, openness and satisfactory proof of the amounts. None is present in this case.

There are at least two reasons why payors should not be able to create their own support regimes. The first is that the receiving parent usually has custody, and must be the one to make decisions about the child’s expenditures. A private unilateral scheme operated by the payor can be a method of control which undermines the authority of the custodial parent. The second reason is that the payor is in sole possession of the information about direct payments. Unless the payor is forthcoming about such payments in a timely way, the payee is at the mercy of the payor’s record-keeping …

(2009 BCCA 461 (CanLII),at paras. 38, 39) (emphasis added)

These cases stand for the proposition that child support is meant to maintain a child’s permanent home and to cover the incidentals that a custodial parent provides to a child (see Armaz v. van Erp, 2000 CanLII 22585 (ON SC) ). I often explain it this way to clients: just think of how much you might spend on the children or other incidentals if you were still living in the same home with the other parent. Wouldn’t it likely be more than you are spending right now? And regardless of whether these funds go directly toward the children or not, there are certain expenses the other parent must pay to keep the children’s quality of life similar to what they would have experienced if you were living with the children, correct?

As stated earlier, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as when the parents’ relationship is extremely acrimonious and the child lives away at school (see B. (T.T.) v. D. (P.H.), 2014 NBQB 164).

Amendments to Family Services Act in NB Considers Grandparents in Custody Matters

The New Brunswick Government recently amended Section 129(3) of the Family Services Act to consider other parties, including grandparents’ access to their children. Section 129(3) of the Act used to state that “upon application the court may order that either parent or any person shall have access to a child”.  The New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench referred to this section in cases such as, G.G. v. J.W., 2008 NBQB 338 and Morecraft v. Morecraft (1991), 122 NBR (2d) 271 regarding whether grandparents have rights to access their granchildren. In GG, supra, Madam Justice D’Entremont referred to Morecraft, which stated “[t]here is no automatic right of access to third parties“. In an earlier post (see here), I noted the difficulty the wording of section 129(3) posed to questions regarding grandparent’s access to their grandchildren.

On May 5, 2017, the New Brunswick Government passed the bill–An Act to Amend the Family Services Act. This Act essentially replaces the current section 129(3) with the following:

129(3)Repealed: 2017, c.22, s.1

129(3.1)On application, the court may order, on the basis of the best interests of the child, that either parent, a grandparent, another member of the child’s immediate family or any other person shall have access to a child, whether or not an order for custody has been made with respect to the child.
129(3.2)An order under subsection (3.1) shall be made subject to the terms and conditions that the court determines.
129(3.3)On application by a grandparent or another member of the child’s immediate family, other than a parent or guardian, the court shall take into consideration the willingness of each parent or guardian of the child to facilitate access and the need for making an order for access.
129(3.4)An order under subsection (3.1) may provide that access be exercised in the form of visits, oral or written communication or by any other means of communication.
129(3.5)The court may vary or discharge an order under subsection (3.1) at any time.

These amendments broaden the items a judge must consider when making an order for access to a child to “grandparents” and “another member of the child’s immediate family.” In addition, section 129(3.4) specifies that access may be through visits or other means of communication (likely email, Facetime, Skype, etc.) These are likely welcomed changes for grandparents who have, until now, not been explicitly mentioned. As stated in my post <a href=”https://www.purvisculbertlaw.ca/proposed-changes-to-family-services-act-in-new-brunswick-to-consider-role-of-grandparents/”>here</a>, however, how these amendments affect grandparent’s access to their grandchildren will depend on how courts in New Brunswick interpret and apply these provisions in future

Here are some links to more information on these amendments:
– Copy of An Act to Amend the Family Services Act: https://www.gnb.ca/legis/bill/pdf/58/3/Bill-49.pdf
– Link to status of the bills in NB Legislature: https://www1.gnb.ca/legis/bill/print-e.asp?legi=58&num=3&page=4
– Link to current version of the Family Services Act: https://www.canlii.org/en/nb/laws/stat/snb-1980-c-f-2.2/latest/snb-1980-c-f-2.2.html

Proposed Changes to Family Services Act in New Brunswick to consider role of Grandparents

The New Brunswick Provincial Government recently announced that it intends to amend the Family Services Act  to include consideration of grandparents in custody and access matters. Here is a link to the press-release for this announcement. Currently the Family Services Act allows “either or both parents or any person, either alone or jointly, with another” to be granted custody of a child. (emphasis mine)

The “any person” has been used in the past to include grandparents, but as you may recall, I wrote in a previous post about the difficulties grandparents face in seeking access to their grandchildren (https://www.purvisculbertlaw.ca/do-grandparents-have-access-rights-to-their-granchildren/. ) Essentially,  parents are–rightfully so I might add–the primary decision makers for their children.  Therefore, absent serious reasons for replacing a parent’s role as primary decision maker (i.e. abuse, neglect), access decisions typically flow through the parents. If parents do not wish for their children to see their grandparents, then it is difficult for Courts to order access.

One key question about the proposed changes will be: Just how will the Provincial Government include reference to grandparents in the Family Services Act? The answer to this question will help determine how beneficial the amendments will be for grandparents involved in custody disputes. As noted in my earlier post, courts apply the “best interests of the child” test to custody matters, so how further inclusion of grandparents in the equation will affect the outcome of custody disputes will depend on how the changes require judges to consider grandparents more than they do already! (see G.G. v. J.W., 2008 NBQB 338 and Morecraft v. Morecraft (1991), 122 NBR (2d) 271  mentioned in prior post).

Overall, however, this is a welcomed announcement for grandparents. The proof will be in the details and the implementation of the proposed changes.