Family Law Act Section 8 and Part 3
Alberta Child Support Guidelines and Tables

INTENT

To complete an applicant assessment by collecting all required information necessary to make case management decisions about child support action.

POLICY

The Child Support Worker (CSW) completes an assessment interview within 20 working days of the TOMIS referral date with all:

• new applicants, or
• applicants with re-opened files when the CSW is not the previous worker, or
• applicants with re-opened files when circumstances have changed and current information or documentation is required

When an assessment interview is not completed within 20 working days, the CSW documents the reason for the delay e.g. applicant did not keep appointment, limited monthly visits to rural visiting offices.

Note
If the CSW has had previous involvement with the case and there are no changes in circumstance, the CSS file may be updated through phone contact. No personal interview is required unless current documentation for court is required.

Interview Process for Clients on Assistance

The case action plan or disposition is determined by the information obtained from the assessment interview.

The CSW conducts the assessment interview to:

• Determine if any agreements or orders exist i.e., child support, parentage, parenting, separation or divorce order.
   
• Advise the applicant that they would be unable to intervene in an action the CSW has commenced.
   
• Confirm the respondent’s current whereabouts and obtain names, addresses and telephone numbers of the respondent’s family and friends in addition to current or previous employers.
   
• Discuss the respondent’s ability and willingness to pay child support.
   
• Advise the applicant that all children, including those where the respondent’s relationship to the child is “Standing in the Place of a Parent”, are listed in the applicant’s statement CSS 3778 Statement – Child Support to allow negotiation of an CSS 0045 Support Agreement or court action, if required. If there is no agreement, then all children listed in the Statement must be included in the court documents to obtain a support order.
   
• Explain to all applicants that the Director has the right to obtain, enforce or vary a support order or agreement and direct money to the Crown. Explain that after a support order or agreement is registered with the Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP), the applicant is not able to withdraw while on assistance.
  
• Inform the applicant they are required to fully cooperate in providing information about the respondent.
   
• Advise that CSS action may continue after the applicant’s assistance file is closed unless the applicant advises the CSW to stop action. The CSW informs the applicant that a term order may still be sought to recover monies owing to the Crown.
   
• Advise that CSS does not request retroactive child support. The earliest start date for an order or agreement is the date the CSW requested the respondent in writing, to provide financial disclosure during the applicant’s current assistance period. The applicant can initiate their own action for retroactive support if they so chose.
  
• Explain the role of a CSW.
   
• Discuss parental obligation and the intent of CSS. The discussion may include the following issues:
  • Every parent has the legal obligation to pay for the support of their children
  • Children have the right to receive support
  • Since the applicant is receiving assistance, the government and taxpayers have the right to expect parents, who are able, to help support their children
  • Once the applicant is no longer receiving assistance, it is difficult to raise children without the financial help of the other parent

• Refer applicants to other government and related agencies or counsellors if required. e.g. Legal Aid, Family Court, Mental Health. The CSW advises the applicant the department cannot provide funding for these services. If requested by the applicant, the CSW may send a written referral directly to the particular service or agency or may send the referral document to the applicant.
   
• Discuss with the applicant the possibility of reconciliation. The CSW asks the applicant:
  • Whether there have been prior separations
  • When the separations occurred and how long they lasted
  • What circumstances caused any previous separations
  • Whether the family has been involved with any other agencies or professionals.

If the applicant believes that a reconciliation will occur, the CSW brings forward (BFs) the file for 20 working days and does not pursue support action during this period. If a reconciliation has not occurred, the CSW proceeds with support action.

• Obtain information about voluntary support payments the applicant is receiving.
   
• Determine if the parents have split or shared parenting. If both parents have one or more children with full parenting time, or if parents share parenting, support determinations are made for each household according to calculations outlined in Section 8 and Section 9 of the Alberta Child Support Guidelines and Tables.
   
• Explain respondents are financially responsible for the children they have legally adopted.
   
• Determine if the action of pursuing child support will increase the risk of family violence.
   
• Determine whether support action is initiated or whether the CSS file should be closed.
   
• Explain that disclosing their financial details to the respondent is necessary whenever the applicant’s finances are required for the child support calculation.
  
  Note
  A caregiver’s finances are never used in the child support calculation.
   
• Advise that they will be notified of any application regarding support action.
   
• Explain they may be required to appear in court if the Judge requests oral evidence.
   
• Discuss the action plan with the applicant.
   
• Encourage the applicant to be involved in the action plan and the decision regarding support.

Applicant Evidence for Support Actions

Child support agreements or court orders are based on sworn Statements concerning the applicant’s finances and the child’s special expenses and parentage provided by the applicant. The evidence allows for a support order or agreement with a finding of parentage to be completed according to the Alberta Child Support Guidelines and Tables. The applicant’s statement is held on file and is disclosed during negotiations with the respondent if the matter will be settled without court action. If the matter must proceed to court, this Statement is part of the required court document package that must be filed with the Clerk of the Court.

Financial Evidence

The applicant’s finances and the special expenses of the child(ren) are required to complete child support calculations when there are Section 7 expenses or when there is split or shared parenting, and are therefore included in the CSS 3778 Statement – Child Support or the approved applicant supplemental Statement.

The applicant must bring copies of their three most recent pay stubs for employment, EI, and any other type of income and receipts for any special expenses for their children to the assessment interview. These are attachments to the applicant’s Statement and must be included as part of the sworn document.

When the applicant does not have their last three years of income tax returns, the CSW completes the CSS 0338 Consent for Release of Confidential Information authorizing Canada Revenue Agency to provide this information directly to the CSW.

In calculating an income support applicant’s annual gross or guideline income the worker only includes the amount of income support apportioned to the applicant:

• ETW client type is $583/month ($6 996/yr) effective November 1, 2008 
• NETW client type is $687/month ($8 244/yr) effective November 1, 2008
• Learner client type is $844/month ($10 128/yr) effective November 1, 2008
• AISH client type is $1 188/month ($14 256/yr) effective April 1, 2009

The annual guideline income is determined by using:

• The annual amount of assistance income for the client type if the applicant has a long history of receiving benefits and/or will continue to receive benefits for a lengthy period.
   
• The actual months of employment income when the employment income is greater than the monthly assistance income and adding this to the actual months of assistance income. For example: an ETW client worked for a period of 3 months during the year and earned $2 506 and received assistance for the remainder of the year for $5 247 ($583 x 9). The total income is $7 753: $2 506 from employment and $5 247 from assistance.
   
• A combination of employment income and assistance income if the applicant has worked off and on for the last year and their employment income was less on a monthly basis than the amount received on assistance e.g. the applicant earned $2 000 for the last year, then this would be used as employment income and the rest of the applicant’s income would be assistance income to equate to the maximum annual amount for the client type. For example, using an ETW client, $6 996 - $2 000 = $4 996 as the social assistance income. Total income is $6 996: $2 000 from employment and $4 996 from assistance.
   
• Only the applicant’s employment income is used when this amount is over the annual assistance amount and in these situations no assistance income is used. For example, an ETW client who earned $7 000 during the year as this exceeds the ETW $6 996 assistance benefits.

The Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) of $100/month for a child under 6 years of age was introduced in July 2006 as a taxable benefit. Effective April 1, 2007 the use of the UCCB in determining the applicant’s gross or annual income under the guidelines was clarified. The UCCB is now:

• not used in the calculation of standard child support (table amount) for split or shared parenting calculations, and

• used to determine the percentage the applicant is responsible for when calculating Section 7 expenses.  The CSW ensures $1 200 for each dependant who is less than 6 years of age is added to the applicant’s annual or gross income for Section 7 special expense calculations.

ChildView calculates the UCCB automatically as described above.

For special expenses, the actual amount the applicant pays directly or the amount the government pays directly is used for all calculations. Receipts for each special expense are required. Government records can only be used for special expenses the government is directly paying, i.e. the parent portion of child care subsidy, the babysitting costs on the applicant’s budget or health benefits.

The CSW uses the applicant financial and special child expenses information to complete the ChildView calculations.

Parentage Evidence

For applicants where the presumptions of parentage due to marriage apply, the CSW completes the CSS 3778 Statement – Child Support and does not need to provide additional parentage information. [FLA Act Section 8(1)(a)(b)(c)]

When the applicant states that there is divorce action pending, the CSW may decide to allow a brief time for this action to be concluded prior to initiating action under the FLA.

For applicants where the presumptions of parentage due to marriage do not apply, the CSW must:

• Determine the name of the respondent
• Discuss evidence of parentage

Inform the applicant they are required to fully cooperate in providing information about the pregnancy.

Evidence Required for Dependants 18 Years Of Age and Older

The applicant must provide proof of their child(ren)’s full-time attendance from the educational institution where the child(ren) is a student for each dependant who is 18 years or older. This must be used as an attachment to the applicant’s CSS 3778 Statement – Child Support or the approved applicant supplemental Statement when support is being pursued for a dependant 18 years of age or older.

CSS applications for support only include dependants on the assistance file and do not include post-secondary students.

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