Child support recalculation (administrative)

If you are dealing with child support as part of your divorce, you may qualify to be part of the Administrative Recalculation of Child Support Program which can be included in your Corollary Relief Order.

The Nova Scotia Administrative Recalculation of Child Support Program allows people who have a child support order to have their child support table amount reviewed yearly and adjusted where appropriate (when the paying spouse’s income changes). This Program may allow you to update your child support payments without the need to file an application, return to court and negotiate a new order every year, and without any fee.

Enrollment into the Recalculation Program can only be approved if the spouses and the order meet certain conditions. These conditions include:

  • Both spouses must live in Nova Scotia

  • One spouse must have primary care of the children. The program does not apply in shared parenting arrangements

  • You must have a court order signed by judge or a separation agreement which has been registered with the court

  • The order must say that the child support will be recalculated at regular times in accordance with the program

  • The order must contain an amount for child support based on the Child Support Guidelines and tables (even if the income of the person paying child support is $150,000 or above)

  • The order must be based on the annual income of the paying parent only. It cannot be an average or based on a pattern of income or undue hardship, and

  • The paying spouse is not self-employed or in a partnership or receiving dividend income.

Your Corollary Relief Order must contain the required clauses about the enrolment into the Administrative Recalculation Program if you want to take part of the Program.

The paying spouse will need to update their financial information each year by sending it to the Program.

For more information about the Administrative Recalculation Program, click here.

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