A brief primer on child support: Part one.

• Author: Boyd, John-Paul

Child support is money paid by a parent toward the living expenses of his or her child. Other people can be required to pay child support, including guardians and stepparents.

The duty to pay child support is based on a parent's obligation, under the old common law, to provide his or her child with the "necessities of life." This duty, which continues to be a part of the Criminal Code, is now expressed and fleshed out in two laws, the federal Divorce Act and the provincial Family Law Act. Although these laws have a lot in common, they also have some significant differences.

The Divorce Act only applies to people who are or used to be married to each other, and, for reasons that I'll explain in another column, is only available in the Court of Queen's Bench. The Family Law Act applies to everyone, including married spouses, adult interdependent partners (common-law spouses), and people who had a child together and are neither spouses nor partners. Both the Court of Queen's Bench and the Provincial Court can make orders under the Family Law Act.

The obligation to pay child support is generally triggered when parents separate. Of course, they each have the duty to support their child during their relationship, and that's covered by the Criminal Code and the law on child protection. When and how much gets paid can be decided by a court order or the parents' written or oral agreement. Child support is usually payable until a child turns 18, it is usually paid monthly, and the amount payable is almost always determined using the Child Support Guidelines.

Myth: You don't have to pay child support if you give up your rights as a parent. In fact, a parent has to pay child support whether he or she is present or absent from the child's life. Because the right to benefit from the payment of child support belongs to the child, not the parents, parents cannot agree to waive child support in return for waiving the entitlement of one of them to be involved in their child's life.

Those are the general rules, but there are exceptions. Lots of them.

Who Can Ask for Support

Under the Divorce Act, only a spouse can ask another spouse to pay support. Under the Family Law Act, a parent or guardian can ask a parent to pay support, as can anyone who has "care and control" of the child and the child him-...