When navigating separation or divorce in Canada, accurately calculating child support and spousal support is essential for creating fair and sustainable financial arrangements. The process begins with understanding the tools available and the income determination methods required under Canadian law.

While free online support calculators exist, investing in a Canadian online support calculator is highly recommended for accurate results. These paid services handle various complexities that free versions simply cannot manage effectively, making them worthwhile investments for ensuring proper calculations.

When possible, both parties should exchange relevant financial documents and work together on calculations. This can involve either running calculations together or having one party complete the calculation for both and then sharing the results. This collaborative approach promotes transparency and collaboration.

Once you enter your basic information in the calculator, the first step will be to determine your guideline income for you and your spouse.

Your guideline income represents your income specifically for calculating child support under the Federal Child Support Guidelines. This figure may differ from how your income is measured for tax purposes, requiring careful attention to the specific methods outlined in the guidelines.

The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines have adopted the same income determination method as laid out in Federal Child Support Guidelines. This means that even if you don't have children, the Child Support Guidelines' Income calculation method still applies to your situation for spousal support purposes.

Both spouses' incomes are relevant for calculating, child support amounts, special expenses, and spousal support obligations. So you'll want to determine each party's income accurately.

Rather than simply using past tax returns, support calculations focus on prospective income – what you expect to earn over the next 12 months. While last year's tax returns provide helpful information, they may not tell the whole story of your current financial situation.

Many people assume they can simply use line 15,000 from their previous year's tax return, but income determination is more complicated than that. Some people have very steady salaried income and in that case, their line 15,000 from last year is going to be a really good indicator of what they're likely to earn this year. And that's a great starting point, and there may be no further adjustments. And then that's all there is to it.

However, it’s important to think about things prospectively and being reasonable given the current circumstances.

We want to go through the stepped approach around looking at income to make sure that we're thinking about things prospectively and that we want to be reasonable given the current circumstances. Things change for everybody, and nobody knows if they're going to be fired tomorrow, if they're going to continue to get overtime.

You have to look at your unique situation, past patterns, and known changes to make the most reasonable educated guess you can about what your income will likely be for the next 12 months. Situations often change. People lose jobs, gain new employment, or experience changes in overtime availability.

The key is making the most reasonable educated guess possible based on your unique employment situation, historical income patterns, and known upcoming changes or circumstances.

If there is a change, that's okay. Any of us can lose our jobs, any of us can get a new one. The future is uncertain, and the guidelines account for that. Support calculations aren't set in stone. Each year, you should exchange the following:

Your Separation Agreement will outline which documents need to be shared and when.

Where there is a change of income or the parenting arrangement has changed, either of you can request a recalculation and vary child support. This is written into the Federal Child Support Guidelines for reviewing support, but it's a choice to review and vary spousal support and one that you'll be free to make within Divii.