News release

Focus on the Family: Putting Children First

Justice

NOTE TO EDITORS: This is the first in a series titled Justice Matters. Produced by the Department of Justice, it is intended to provide additional background information and offer some insight into issues relating to the justice system.

JUSTICE MATTERS

During the last sitting of the legislature, Justice Minister Alan Mitchell shepherded two bills through the House Of Assembly. One bill is designed to streamline the area of family law by creating a Family Division of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, and the other will provide guidance to parents in determining child-support payments.

Currently, jurisdiction over family law matters is divided between the Family Court (provincially appointed judges) and the Supreme Court (federally appointed judges). The Judicature Act has been amended to unify the jurisdictions of both the Family Court and Supreme Court under the Family Division.

This initiative will be implemented in phases, estimated to take three to five years for completion. It is expected there will be funding over the long term for up to 14 justices as well as an associate chief justice. The federal government will be appointing and paying the salaries of the judges of a unified Family Court. As a result, the province will allocate the funds saved in salaries to new and improved services for families.

Funds saved will be targeted to services designed to reduce conflict and the cost of litigation for families. In promoting family mediation, the objective is to help families find solutions without the necessity of the courts in appropriate cases. With alternatives to the adversarial court process, it is hoped tension and conflict can be lessened, along with costs.

The province will allocate resources to counselling services, particularly in the area of post-separation parenting. Assessment services for the courts will also be increased to assist in making decisions regarding custody and access. Conflict-management programs will be put in place to help reduce the difficulties associated with exercising custody and access. Information and parent education programs will be offered to families to help them with the many decisions they must make as part of a family breakup. These services will also help parents to understand and respond to the needs of their children who are so profoundly affected during a breakup.

The goal is to ease the burden for families and address the needs of children during a traumatic time.

Amendments were also made to the Family Maintenance Act allowing the province to implement the federal child support guidelines. The guidelines are based on the average costs of raising a child in Canada. The Child Support Guidelines were initially introduced by the federal government in May 1997 and provide a fair, objective and consistent standard in determining levels of child support.

The guidelines are based on the principles that both parents have an obligation to support their children after divorce or separation, and that children have the right to share in the income of their parents. The objective in implementing these guidelines is to establish a fair standard of support for children; to reduce the conflict and tension between parents by making the calculation of child support more objective; to improve the efficiency of the court process by encouraging settlement; and to ensure all children are treated equally.

According to Statistics Canada, the economic situation of men and women after divorce or separation differs greatly. One year after separation women experienced an appreciable loss of 23 per cent in adjusted family income, while men registered a gain of 10 per cent. For those who receive or pay support, again the difference between men and women is quite vast. One year after separation, recipients have heavier losses in income, while payers experience gains in adjusted family income.

The Child Support Guidelines include a set of tables showing the amount of support that should be paid by the non-custodial parent. In calculating the support, the guidelines consider the number of children, the area of residence of the person paying support, and of course, the person's income. There is flexibility built into the guidelines, allowing for the addition of special or extraordinary expenses to the basic table amounts.

A court may, at the request of either parent, allow for expenses such as child care, education, health or medical expenses or extracurricular activities. The court will take these expenses into account, keeping in mind the child's best interests, the reasonableness of the expense and the income of the parents.

While there is an opportunity to differ from the guidelines, there are still prescribed formulas to assist in calculating reasonable and fair amounts. With these guidelines, the calculation of child support is now based on income. The guidelines clearly define what income is, and require that certain documents be filed as proof of income. For example, income tax returns spanning a three-year period must be filed, along with notices of assessments and reassessments and current pay slips.

In asking individuals to file these documents, the intent is to ensure the court has accurate, timely and comprehensive information so that decision regarding support can be made in a fair and consistent manner.

To keep child support orders and agreements current, the guidelines allow the custodial parent to request in writing updated income information. In this way, parents are able to determine if an adjustment in the amount of child support is warranted.

The guidelines themselves were the result of five years of in-depth research conducted by the family law committee. This committee examined various formulas for determining child support and looked at models used in jurisdictions around the world.

The changes to both bills are designed to make the process easier during an extremely emotional and difficult time for families. The changes are designed to put children first.