Child Support Agreement

A child support agreement is used by parents to work out the details of how the financial burden of raising their children will be divided, even if they are no longer in a committed relationship.

The agreement addresses issues such as child support payments, health-related expenses, and additional expenses related to raising children. Child support is generally calculated based on each parent's amount of time with the child and the parents' respective incomes and assets. A number of child support calculators are available online.

Parents can use this document to come up with a mutually satisfactory plan for how they will divide the responsibility for paying child support to be used for the children's upkeep without having to cede control of the decision-making to a judge. If both parents can be civil and work in the best interests of their children, they can save time, money, and energy by creating a child support agreement on their own.

If parents want to make agreements about custody and parenting time, they should use a child custody agreement.

How do I use this document?

Once the parents have finished drafting the child support agreement, they may choose to have their own lawyers review the document and then sign it:

• either in front of their lawyers, or

• in front of witnesses and a notary public.

The agreement must then be filed with the local court so that a judge can approve it and make it official. Judges generally approve of any reasonable child support agreement and are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to two parents who have worked together to create a child support agreement.

Parents should keep copies of this document to refer to in case of a dispute, misunderstanding, or desire to create a written amendment to the agreement.

Applicable Law

Child support falls under both provincial or territorial and federal law. In determining child-related issues such as custody, access, and support, a court must approve any arrangement based on the "best interests of the child" test. Generally, if both parents reach an agreement on these issues, a court will be willing to include that agreement in the formal legal documents. However, there is always the possibility that a court will require a modification of the agreement if it determines that it is not in the best interests of the children involved.

How to modify the template?

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.