I. Reasonable Time to Overcome Hardship

• Author: Julien D. Payne - Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 346-347

Page 346

Pursuant to section 10(5) of the Federal Child Support Guidelines, where the court orders a different amount of child support after making a finding of undue hardship under section 10(1) of the Guidelines, it may specify, in the child support order, a reasonable time for the satisfaction of any obligation arising from the circumstances that cause undue hardship and the amount payable at the end of that time. This provision is likely to be most frequently

Page 347

invoked in situations where unusually high family debts are the cause of the hardship,²⁰³

but it is by no means expressly confined to those situations. In Bourque v. Phillips,²⁰⁴undue hardship was found under section 10(2)(c) of the Nova Scotia Child Support Guidelines, where the father was obliged to pay fixed-term spousal support under a separation agreement, but the court concluded that the undue hardship would cease to exist once the time-limited spousal support obligation terminated.

An application for increased child support may be granted by virtue of a change of circumstances within the meaning of section 14 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines when the respondent’s annual income has increased and a previous finding of undue hardship is no longer tenable because the respondent is no longer liable to pay court-ordered support for two children of a prior marriage.²⁰⁵

[203] Aker v. Howard, [1998] O.J. No. 5562 (Gen. Div.).

[204] [2000] N.S.J. No. 13 (S.C.).

[205] Casey v....