Thanks go to all who took the time to provide feedback on Alberta Justice’s proposal to introduce a child support recalculation service! A consultation paper was posted on this site from April 23 to June 20, 2008 to seek input on some of the technical questions on how the service will work. Alberta Justice is pleased by the number of people who responded to the consultation and is currently in the process of carefully considering the responses received.

The proposed program would help Albertans keep their court-ordered child support amounts current. It would annually adjust child support payments based on changes in the parties’ incomes, rather than requiring the parties to return to court for a new order. The method of calculation would provide certainty and predictability for program users.

Family Law Act amendments (Bill 15) to establish the program were introduced in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the spring 2008 session and will be dealt with in the fall session of the Legislature. Feedback from stakeholders and interested individuals is key to the development of the details of the program to be contained in regulations developed later this year.

It is hoped the Child Support Recalculation Program will be open by the end of 2009.