The Child Support Recalculation Service (“CSRS”) is a new program that was recently introduced for British Columbia Provincial Court Registries. The purpose of CSRS to provide a faster and more convenient way to update child support payments. Under the law, child support payments should be updated each year to be in line with the parties’ income. Before, parties would have to make a court application every year to adjust child support. Now, parties can enroll in CSRS to have their payments automatically recalculated.

It is important to note that CSRS is only available for British Columbia Provincial Court orders for child support, or agreements for child support filed with the British Columbia Provincial Court. If your order or agreement is with the British Columbia Supreme Court, you cannot enroll in CSRS.

Further, to be eligible for CSRS, there are other rules:

• The parties and child(ren) must reside in BC.
• The order or agreement must include a term that child support is recalculated yearly.
• The order or agreement must indicate which section of the Federal Child Support Guidelines determined child support.

To enroll in CSRS:

• You will need contact information for yourself and the other party, a copy of the order or agreement, and information regarding the child(ren).
• You may apply by creating a BCeID account or mailing an application to CSRS.
• Only one party needs to apply.

Once you are enrolled in CSRS, they will request income tax return from both parties each year. The parties must send their income tax returns within 30 days. If you do not submit your income tax return by the deadline, CSRS will penalize you by automatically increasing  your income.

CSRS then completes a child support calculation. If they determine that the new amount of child support differs by at least $5, they will issue a Statement of Recalculation. The Statement of Recalculation is sent to both parties, Family Maintenance Enforcement Program, and filed with the court. After 31 days of being received, your child support payment is adjusted to the new amount.  There is also a mechanism to dispute the new amount, should you disagree with the recalculation.

It is also important to note that there are limitations to CSRS. CSRS only applies to cases where there is a straightforward recalculations of child support.

CSRS will not recalculate:

• Orders or agreements based on undue hardship.
• Orders or agreements based on self-employment or partnership income.
• Orders or agreements based on pattern of income over three years.
• Orders or agreements based on imputed income.
• Orders or agreements with the payor in place of parent.
• Orders or agreements where there are legal proceedings underway that may impact child support.
• Child support arrears.

CSRS may recalculate:

• Orders or agreements for special or extraordinary expenses.
• Orders or agreements where the child(ren) is over the age of majority.
• Orders or agreements with shared parenting time.
• Orders or agreements with income over $150,000.
• Orders under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act.

To schedule a consultation to learn more about this or other issues related to family law, please call our office at (250) 591-1055.

Please note that the above information is legal information and NOT legal advice. We recommend that everyone obtains legal advice specific to their situation.

Text by Hailey Massingham.