Does the Court have to determine child support under s. 4 of the Child Support Guidelines by looking only at the lifestyles of children of similarly wealthy families?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from S.R.M. v. I.A.M., 2002 BCSC 1453 (CanLII):

Laskin J.A., after discussing Hollenbach, said at para. 51: But if Hollenbach is taken to mean that a court should determine children's needs under s. 4 by looking only at the lifestyles of children of similarly wealthy families, then I must respectfully disagree with it. If the children's reasonable needs, including reasonable discretionary expenditures, are being met by the parties' pre-separation lifestyle - even if that lifestyle is comparatively modest - and the paying parent's income does not increase after separation, I do not think it is for the court to award child support that reflects a different, more lavish lifestyle. The Guidelines are meant to ensure fair levels of support, but to repeat Bastarache J.'s words in Francis v. Baker, also to ensure "that a divorce will affect the children as little as possible".

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