If you cannot come to an agreement on your own, click here for services that may be able to help you.

If even after trying these services you still can’t reach an agreement, you will have to go to court.

If you have to go to court

It is generally a lot less stressful if parents can work out a child support agreement on their own, but that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes court is the only option left to ensure that children get the financial support they need when their parents separate.

Parents can apply for a child support order in Family Court, the Supreme Court (if part of a divorce), or the Supreme Court Family Division. Which court you apply to may depend on where you live, where the other parent lives, or where the children live. It may also depend on whether or not you are divorced from the other parent. For more information, click here.

The paying parent will be required by the court to provide proof of their present income, together with their recent income tax returns and notices of assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency, and other financial documents that may be important. In most cases, such as when the parents are paying for special or extraordinary expenses, or when the parenting arrangement is shared or split, the receiving parent will also be required to provide financial documents such as income tax returns and notices of assessment.

The judge will make a child support order based on the Child Support Guidelines. The judge will make a decision about how much child support should be paid, who should pay it, and how often. Parents have to obey court orders.

Court staff can give you information about going to court. It is also a good idea to get legal advice before going to court. Some services provide legal help for free or for a small fee. You can also get information from the NS Family Law website at www.nsfamilylaw.ca. 

What if a parent doesn’t pay child support?

The Nova Scotia Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) is a service established by the provincial government to help parents receive their child support payments. “Maintenance” is another term used to describe support.

Once you are enrolled in the MEP, staff at MEP will monitor your child support order and enforce it if payments are late or unpaid. MEP staff will contact the non-paying parent and arrange for payment to be made. There is no cost to enroll and there is no time limit about when a parent can enroll their child support agreement or order in the MEP.

Some parents enroll in the program because it is easier to have MEP collect payments than it is to do it themselves. When necessary, however, MEP has the power to garnish wages or other Federal monies, revoke driver’s licenses, and take other legal action to get payments on behalf of the children.