Can a father and wife agree to waive child support obligations?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from D'Ambrosio v. D'Ambrosio, 2000 BCSC 1252 (CanLII):
It is difficult to reconcile the authorities cited by the father with the clear statement in Cherry v. Cherry that any agreement between the parents waiving child support cannot be enforced. In my view, the combined effect of these authorities leads to the conclusion that while parents cannot make an enforceable agreement to reduce or ignore child support obligations established by court order, if they have mutually established a reasonable alternative arrangement to the order then the court may consider that arrangement as one factor in deciding whether arrears should be cancelled or reduced. In determining whether the arrangement is a reasonable one, the court must decide if it provides for the child at a comparable or better level than the child support order, and whether it is clearly in the child’s best interests. If it does not meet these criteria, it should have no bearing on a determination as to what arrears are owed. If the answer to the first question is affirmative, was there an arrangement between the parents in this case which justifies a reduction or cancellation of the arrears of child support?
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