When Do Step-Parents Have To Pay Child Support For Their Step-Kids?
When does a spouse live long enough with another person that they have to start paying child support for the other spouse’s biological kids?
That’s a very important question for many spouses since there are so many more blended families today compared to the past.
Hi, my name is Thomas O’Malley. I’m an experienced family lawyer in Durham Region and the GTA.
How did Tanya and Greg grapple with this difficult issue.
One thing you certainly learn from Tanya and Greg is…
But, before I explain what you can, let me explain how a spouse can be obligated legally to pay child support for the other spouse’s biological kids.
A spouse must have what is called a “settled intention” to treat the other spouse’s kids as though they were their own children.
You will be found to have a “settled intention” to treat your spouse’s biological kids as your own kids by reviewing a number of factors to see whether overall you really did treat your spouse’s kids as your own kids.
These factors include: whether the child participates in the extended family in the same way as would a biological child, whether the spouse provides financially for the child (depending on his ability to pay), whether the spouse disciplines the child as a parent; whether the spouse represents to the world, either explicitly or implicitly, that the spouse is responsible as a parent to the child, and the nature or existence of the child’s relationship with the other biological parent.
In other words, did the spouse or step-parent treat the biological child of the other spouse as a member of her or her family?
In the case of Tanya and Greg, Greg, the step-parent, had only a superficial, stilted and strained relationship with his step-son, Zack.
The judge found that Greg did not have an obligation to pay child support for Zack since he did not treat Zack as his own child in this relationship with Tanya.
The key factor was that Tanya and Greg had only lived together for a little more than 3 years before they separated and Greg only had a strained relationship with Tanya’s son, Zack.
A key lesson is to consider the factors that would show that a spouse did not have a settled intention to treat the other spouse’s biological child as their own child.
These factors include a poor relationship between the step-parent and the child prior to separation, an older child, an involved other biological parent, and a short length of the relationship.
Make sure you spend some time with your family lawyer discussing this important issue in your separation or divorce.
If you have any questions about your separation, divorce or family law case and you would like our help, there’s a few ways to contact our office. You can leave a message on my Facebook law office page, visit my website at www.canadiandivorcelegaladvice.com, or call me directly at 905-434-8837.
We would be happy to speak to you.
Oh, by the way, did you know you can protect your family law rights and get essential information on settling your family law issues with your former spouse with the daily indispensable family law advice and tips at my FREE Facebook group?
Go here to find out more: Durham Region Separation and Divorce Legal Support Group
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