When does child support stop?
Pursuant to the Family Law Act, child support terminates when a child is over the age of majority and is no longer enrolled in a full-time program of education, or cannot, by reason of disability withdraw from parental control.
Full Time Program of Education.
A child is typically entitled to support if they are taking a minimum 60% course load at an accredited University or College. In the event a child is part-time, it may be the case they are no longer entitled to support.
Disability
A child will be entitled to support if they cannot, by disability, withdraw from parental control. Medical evidence is necessary to demonstrate to a Court that the child is disabled. However, once it is determined that a child is disabled, the quantum of child support needs consideration. When a child is disabled, and over the age of 16, they will typically receive disability payments from the Federal and Provincial governments. The amount of support a payor needs to provide is fixed in the context of the actual cost to the recipient parent, having regard for any disability payments received from the child.
Our firm represented the mother of a 24-year-old disabled child, in successfully defending the child’s right to continue receiving support past the age of 18. Our client was also awarded her legal costs for having to advance this claim, in Bueckert v. Sutherland 2020 ONSC 815.