VI Summary and Conclusions

This report presents the findings of a review of child support models in ten jurisdictions to identify how issues related to the determination of child support are addressed. In addition to describing the ten models, the report also examines how jurisdictions incorporate various elements into the construction of their guidelines. The study identifies similarities and differences in how these elements are used, as well as identified commonalities and trends across the jurisdictions. Finally, the study summarizes major changes that have been made to their relevant legislation.

The jurisdictions included in this review were selected because they reflected the range of various child support models that exist today. This ensures a representation of models that used various expenditure approaches to determine the costs of children and that used different approaches to apportion those expenditures between parents to determine the child support amount. It is also important that the report represents various approaches to how the models are administered, whether through the court system in their jurisdiction or by an administrative agency mandated to complete the assessment and determine child support amounts.

One of the key findings of this review is that none of the child support models are exactly alike. All jurisdictions have integrated in their legislation some principles or objectives that underpin their child support models. These objectives, in turn, are instrumental in shaping the construction of the models and the formula, which parents or family law officials use to determine the relevant child support amount. They also all incorporate many of the same elements in the construction of their formula, yet how the elements are defined and integrated differs considerably across the jurisdictions.

All jurisdictions have made changes to their child support legislation over time. Some have made minor adjustments to various provisions to provide clarity. Half of the jurisdictions have made significant amendments that resulted in changes in the way the expenditures of the child were to be apportioned between the parents, how income available for child support was to be determined, how time spent with the parents was to be recognized, and in the organization of the entities mandated to determine child support amounts. Those jurisdictions that made significant changes to their legislation did so all at once – changing various elements of their model at the same time. Knowledgeable experts who were consulted about the process that their jurisdiction went through to successfully implement the changes noted how difficult and long the process was.

Changes to the legislation were also made to keep pace with the changing nature of families. Recognition for other dependents that either parent may be responsible for is included in the formula calculations in all models reviewed. Provisions to accommodate the limited ability of some parents to pay child support due to their financial circumstances are also reflected in the way the formulas are constructed. As changes to the child support legislation were made to accommodate the various realities of a more complex family structure, so too did the complexity of the formula calculations. This in turn, required the courts and administrative agencies to provide the necessary tools, worksheets and online calculators to parents and family justice personnel so that the child support calculations could be readily and accurately determined.

Since the first child support guidelines were developed in the early 1980s, jurisdictions have followed different paths to respond to their distinctive social circumstances and policy objectives. The review of ten jurisdictions revealed that this evolution is continuing with many challenges still to be addressed.