Ask a Lawyer: Family Law / Divorce

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Child support

Natalie Cameron (Okotoks)

My partner made a verbal agreement with his ex for
Child support- we paid that until going through court it was advised to pay the federal guideline amount, no argument was made and we paid as requested. She is now arguing that we owe back for that time that we had a verbal agreement (which we have a recording of). Do we have a leg to stand on in court?


0 11 days ago

Anonymous Lawyer (Calgary)
   Verified Lawyer

Child support is required to be paid according to the Guidelines because child support is the right of the child. However, if the debt is more than 3 years old, and the Court finds there was no bad faith on the part of the Payor, you may be able to get that debt dismissed in part or in whole or repaid at a lower monthly rate. The Court might look at how large the deficit is though. Make an offer and see if that resolves matters.

1 10 days ago

Dawn Nelson - Dawn L. Nelson, Barrister & Solicitor (Edmonton)
   Verified Lawyer

Hi Nadia,

You keep posting here to try to fix your partner's problems. I strongly recommend you stop doing that. This is a public forum and you are putting far too much of your partner's private information online.

Tell him to talk to a lawyer. You said in another post that it was a high conflict divorce, so he likely has had al least one lawyer giving him legal advice already and something like back child support before a court order is in place is definitely a conversation he has already had with legal counsel.

PS: All stop referring to any of this being "we." You have no legal standing in any of this.


1 10 days ago - edited 10 days ago

Natalie Cameron (Okotoks)

He had a lawyer for almost 3 years that we fired and are suing for overcharging and completely screwing him over.
Since he is representing himself I say “we” as in I am helping him do that. We also parent his children together and all live together currently. We have won 50/50 custody of his kids due to my help and on our own.
The judge on this case is very aware of my place in this, and I have been included in the legal process.


0 9 days ago

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