QPL Articles
Alberta Court of Appeals Deliberate on the effect of Contracts in Child Support
By Jonathan Ablett | October 18, 2017
The effect of contracts on Section 3: Child Support was recently deliberated in the Alberta Court of Appeals in the case of Caufield v Wong, 2017 ABCA 288. Where the Court of Appeal affirmed the decision of the Chambers Judge that notwithstanding changes in the circumstances of the mother no child support will be paid because consent order was negotiated in good faith.
The Court of Appeal said “While child support is the right of the child and not of the parents, the Family Law Act, SA 2003, c F-4.5 does not preclude parents from entering into agreements, including those embraced in consent orders, quantifying, limiting or forfeiting child support in exchange for other consideration”
In this case, the two children involved were result of father’s (“Wong”) donation of sperm to mother (“Caufield”). Parties’ consent order of October 18, 2013 gave Wong primary residence and provided that neither party would pay child support, regardless of financial circumstances. While children lived with Wong for up six years, Caufield did not pay child support. However, the two children now 16 years old, are living full time with Caufield since June 30, 2015 and Caufield brought an application for retroactive s3 and s7 child support on March 24, 2017, on the ground that her income had decreased since the time the consent order was granted. The Chambers Judge dismissed Caufield’s application, finding the consent order was negotiated in good faith with legal counsel
See more at canlii.ca/ or nextcanada.westlaw.com/