A parent who is required to pay child maintenance is not relieved from the obligation because they enter into a subsequent relationship and have more children unless they are able to make an “undue hardship” case. Undue hardship is only available to extremely low income individuals.
In a recent Alberta case the parties met online and had a brief sexual relationship but never had a formal living arrangement. Their child was born in 2010 with Down syndrome. The father initially denied parentage and never paid child support or played a parental role. By the time of the trial, DNA tests confirmed parentage. The father had become a successful plastic surgeon with a new family.
The father was required to pay the full amount of child support based on his gross annual income and using the one child formula. He was also required to pay significant special and extraordinary expenses for things the child needed because of his disability.
Deborah A. Todd
