Amalia Schon Lawyer & Mediator
  • call Us Today
    (604) 318-8254
  • Home
  • About
  • Family Law Services
    • Collaborative Divorce
    • Family Law Agreements
    • Parenting, Guardianship & Custody
    • Child Support
    • Spousal Support
    • Family Property & Debt Division
    • Lawyer Assisted Negotiation
    • Mediation
    • Divorce
    • Unbundled Services
    • All Family Law Services
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact
Book a Free Consultation

Child Support & Section 7 Special or Extraordinary Expenses: What are they? What aren’t they?

January 27, 2021
Blog, Child support, Family Law, Special or extraordinary expenses
0 Comments

When parents separate, in addition to basic expenses covered by child support (such as food, and shelter), parents must determine which additional expenses they will share. These additional expenses are referred to as “special or extraordinary expenses” or “section 7” expenses, families in Vancouver who are separating rarely agree on what these are.

The Federal Child Support Guidelines sets out a list of what can be considered a special or extraordinary expense. They are:

(a) childcare expenses incurred as a result of the custodial parent’s employment, illness, disability or education or training for employment;

(b) that portion of the medical and dental insurance premiums attributable to the child;

(c) health-related expenses that exceed insurance reimbursement by at least $100 annually, including orthodontic treatment, professional counselling provided by a psychologist, social worker, psychiatrist or any other person, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and prescription drugs, hearing aids, glasses, and contact lenses;

(d) extraordinary expenses for primary or secondary school education or for any other educational programs that meet the child’s particular needs;

(e) expenses for post-secondary education; and

(f) extraordinary expenses for extracurricular activities.

If the claimed expense does not fit into any of the above categories, it cannot be a special or extraordinary expense.

Even where an expense fits into one of the listed categories, that is not the end of the story. The expenses must be both “necessary” in relation to the child’s best interests and “reasonable” as measured against the combined financial means of the parents (and, where appropriate, the child) as well as the family’s spending patterns prior to separation. The special or extraordinary expenses must be “necessary and reasonable” in light of the parties’ incomes, the circumstances of the child and the special needs or abilities of the child.

As each family and each child has its own unique characteristics, what may be considered a reasonable special or extraordinary expenses expense for one family, may not be considered an extraordinary expense for another.

Parents often disagree whether extracurricular activities are valid special or extraordinary expenses. For an extracurricular activity to be a special or extraordinary expense, the child must show special skill and the expense must be “extraordinary.” So, for example, regular soccer lessons or music lessons are not special or extraordinary expenses.

There is no straightforward definition for “extraordinary,” although relevant considerations will be the nature and number of activities, any special needs or talents of the child, the overall cost of the activities, and any other similar relevant factors. An exception to an ordinary extracurricular activity having to be “extraordinary” to qualify as a special or extraordinary expense is where an ordinary extracurricular activity is offered as childcare, such as a summer camp or spring break camp.

One of the leading cases in British Columbia on what are not valid special or extraordinary expenses is Clarke v. Clarke. In that case, the mother was asking the court to require the father to pay for their son’s Xbox subscriptions and cell phone bills, and their daughter’s gym membership, yoga lessons and personal trainer, amongst other things.

The judge said while it was impossible to definitively say what types of expenses would qualify in every case, there were certain expenses that would never qualify because they were ordinary expenses that were covered by the monthly child support amount. These included:

  • expenses such as entertainment, pets, vacations, school fees, school supplies, meals outside the home, personal grooming and clothing
  • a home computer
  • recreational sports and similar extracurricular activities such as dance lessons, ski trips, and community sports leagues

The judge refused to order the father to pay any of the expenses requested as the expenses, as the expenses were “perfectly ordinary.”

So, many expenses that parents often believe are valid special or extraordinary expenses are not. It is therefore prudent to first make sure that an expense is a valid special or extraordinary expense before incurring it, or you may not receive compensation from the other parent. If you have doubts about what is valid, you can book a free consultation with me here.

You can read more about child support and special and extraordinary expenses here.

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Information made available on this website is for information purposes only and is not legal advice. Do not rely on this information, nor take or fail to take any action, based upon this information. Do not disregard professional legal advice or delay in seeking legal advice because of something you have read on this website. Contact me here to discuss any specific legal issues.

Share
Previous Post
Can you lose your excluded property if you separate from or divorce your spouse?
Next Post
COVID-19 & Family Law: does the pandemic affect the ability of families to achieve resolution?

Leave a Reply - Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked (required)

Book Your Free Legal Consultation







    Search
    Categories
    • Blog
    • Case law
    • Child support
    • COVID-19
    • Excluded property
    • Family Law
    • Family law agreements
    • Family property
    • Marriage-like relationship
    • News
    • Special or extraordinary expenses
    • Spousal support
    • Spouses
    • Uncategorized
    • Unequal division
    Testimonials
    • Amalia answers all my questions. She replies very quick in a timely manner. Very professional and very informative.

      Amalia Schon Lawyer & Mediator
      Cris man
      12/14/2021
    • Amalia Schön helped me alot during some of the darkest days of my life. I took a chance on Amalia, not knowing where to turn for help and never before finding myself in need of a Family lawyer, I did not have a clue whom to choose online.
      I found Amalia Schön online and the thing I remember most was she called herself more of a mediator in Family law than just a divorce lawyer, Amalia negotiated a fair settlement when all communications had ended and no resolution was possible on my own when my commonlaw relationship had ended very badly and abruptly. Amalia was always very professional and always responded to my queries and problems in a timely manner. Amalia Schön offered me good value, she is a quality family lawyer and mediated a fair settlement without anyone involved ending up in court.
      Amalia Schön Family Law, comes highly recommended as family mediator/lawyer by myself, I am very happy with her services and recommend her when and if you should ever need a Family lawyer!

      Amalia Schon Lawyer & Mediator
      Tim Holzworth
      12/03/2021

    Read more testimonials

    Archive
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    Quick Links
    • Homepage
    • About
    • Family Law Services
    • Testimonials
    • Contact
    North Vancouver Family Law

    Family law issues touch some of the most important aspects of our lives. Finding a lawyer that you can trust is imperative to achieving a timely and beneficial resolution.

    Copyright Amalia Schön © 2022. All Rights Reserved

    • Home
    • About
    • Family Law Services
      • Collaborative Divorce
      • Family Law Agreements
      • Parenting, Guardianship & Custody
      • Child Support
      • Spousal Support
      • Family Property & Debt Division
      • Lawyer Assisted Negotiation
      • Mediation
      • Divorce
      • Unbundled Services
      • All Family Law Services
    • Testimonials
    • Blog
    • Contact
    • Home
    • About
    • Family Law Services
      • Collaborative Divorce
      • Family Law Agreements
      • Parenting, Guardianship & Custody
      • Child Support
      • Spousal Support
      • Family Property & Debt Division
      • Lawyer Assisted Negotiation
      • Mediation
      • Divorce
      • Unbundled Services
      • All Family Law Services
    • Testimonials
    • Blog
    • Contact