Policy of the Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) on enforcing maintenance for children after age 18

Many debtors (people who pay maintenance) believe that their responsibility to pay child support ends when a child turns 18. This is not always true. Some court orders under the Divorce Act, the Family Law Act and other statutes may require child support to be paid after age 18.

For more information, please see:
Info Sheet - When a Child Turns 18

Parties to a support order may not agree that support should be paid for their adult children. MEP has developed policy so clients are aware in advance of our practice in this area. Our objective is to create procedures that are administratively simple and fair to both parties.

Purpose of information sheet

The purpose of this info sheet is to explain MEP's policy on enforcing court-ordered support for children over age 18. This policy applies to orders made under the Divorce Act, the Alberta Family Law Act, the Alberta Domestic Relations Act after May 17, 1995 (repealed and replaced by the Family Law Act), the Alberta Maintenance Order Act (repealed and replaced by the Family Law Act), and the B.C. Family Relations Act.

This sheet is not intended to provide legal advice or any opinion as to whether maintenance should be paid for adult children. Clients should consult with their lawyers if they have any questions about whether support is payable for their own adult children.

Summary of MEP's policy

MEP will enforce support for adult children as directed by the court. However, where the court does not give specific direction on when support should end, MEP will collect until the child is age 22 (the age where a first degree is normally acquired) unless MEP is told that one of the following events has occurred: the child is at least 18 and no longer a full-time student; the child has completed one post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma; the child has ceased to be dependent or under the care and control of the creditor (person who is to receive maintenance) or the child is married or living common-law.

MEP does not automatically review a child’s eligibility for support at age 18 or any other time. We assume that both parents believe the child to be eligible unless either client tells us the child is not. Where a debtor asks MEP to check on the status of an adult child, MEP will ask for sworn proof of child status from the creditor. MEP makes collection decisions, not legal decisions. Clients who do not agree with MEP’s decision to enforce or not enforce support are urged to consult with their legal counsel.

"Child of the Marriage" under the Divorce Act

The Divorce Act allows the court to order a spouse or former spouse to pay support for a "child of the marriage." The Divorce Act says that a child of the marriage can include an adult child of two spouses or former spouses who is under the spouses’ charge and who is unable "by reason of illness, disability or other cause, to withdraw from their charge or to obtain the necessaries of life." A common "other cause" accepted by the courts is the child continuing to be a student.

"Child" under the Family Law Act

The Family Law Act allows the court to order payment of support for a "child." This can include an adult child who is a full-time student and is not older than 22 years.

Court directions on maintenance for adult children

MEP's enforcement procedures for adult children depend on the wording of the maintenance order. MEP identifies two types of court directions on support for adults: specific and non-specific.

Specific:
Some court orders give specific directions on when child support ends. Examples of these specific directions are:

• Example 1 - the wife shall pay maintenance for Bobby until May 15, 2005
• Example 2 - support shall be paid for Bobby as long as he is in attendance at school
• Example 3 - the husband shall pay $500 per month for the maintenance of the child, Bobby, as long as Bobby is achieving passing grades at school and is enrolled in at least 15 credits
• Example 4 - maintenance shall be paid for Bobby until the earlier of the following events occurs:
  1. Bobby reaches age 19 and is no longer attending school
  2. Bobby marries, or
  3. Bobby reaches age 24.

Non-specific (general):
Many court orders do not give MEP specific direction as to when child support should end. Examples of these non-specific orders are:

• the husband shall pay $500 per month for the support of Bobby until further court order
• maintenance for Bobby shall continue for so long as Bobby remains a "child of the marriage" within the meaning of the Divorce Act
• the wife shall pay $500 per month for the support of Bobby.

Client's responsibility to report significant child status changes

It is the responsibility of both the creditor and debtor to tell us promptly of any changes to the child’s status that could make the child no longer eligible for support. MEP always needs to know when children have withdrawn from their parents’ charge (i.e. are no longer under the care and control of the creditor or dependent on their parents). Other changes that should be reported depend on the wording of the maintenance order. For example, in the specific orders above, MEP needs to know if the child has left school, is failing school, is not enrolled in 15 credits or has married. For a non-specific order, clients need to tell us if a child is no longer a full-time student; if the child has completed any post-secondary degree, diploma or certificate or if the child has married or begun living common-law.

The court's role and MEP's role and responsibility

Legal decisions are made by the courts. Only the court can decide if support should be paid for a particular child at a particular time.

The role of MEP is to enforce court-ordered support. In cases involving a child over age 18, MEP must decide whether or not to collect maintenance. This is an administrative decision, not a legal decision. MEP will only collect support where it believes that support is payable based on the facts before it at that time. MEP is responsible for investigating child status when asked to do so and for responding to clients' information on child status.

Clients who disagree with our decision to collect or not collect maintenance may wish to ask the court to decide the issue or to consider alternate dispute resolution (such as mediation).

For more information, please see the following info sheets:
Info Sheet - Varying or Changing Your Court Order
Info Sheet - Referrals to Resources
Info Sheet - Family Law Information Centres

How MEP determines when to stop collecting support

For each child support order received by MEP, staff enter an expiry date for support (end date) into its system. MEP does not automatically review files to check if there have been any changes to child status. Rather, MEP will collect support until the end date unless either client reports a significant child status change or suggests that the child is no longer eligible for support.

If the creditor reports a significant child status change before the end date, MEP will stop collecting for that child. If the debtor reports a significant child status change or asks MEP to check on child status, MEP starts an investigation to determine if collection should continue. MEP calls this investigation a child status review.

For specific orders

The end date for child support is the latest date the order says the child can receive support.

If there is no such date specified, MEP will use the day before the child's 22nd birthday as the end date for support. In the specific direction order examples above, the automatic end dates would be:

• Example 1: May 15, 2005
• Example 2: the day before Bobby's 22nd birthday
• Example 3: the day before Bobby's 22nd birthday
• Example 4: the day before Bobby's 24th birthday.

MEP will automatically cease collecting support at the end date unless the client shows MEP that the child remains eligible for support under the terms of the court order. Orders with specific directions tell MEP exactly what facts it has to check in a child status review. In the specific direction examples given above, for instance, MEP needs to know from the creditor if Bobby is still in school, passing, earning 15 credits and unmarried.

MEP may stop and restart collection, depending on the wording of the order. For example, if the order says that support will be paid for Bobby as long as he is in school, MEP will stop collecting each time Bobby quits school, but will resume collection each time Bobby returns to school.

For non-specific orders

MEP uses an end date of the day before the child's 22nd birthday. For orders granted under the Divorce Act and the Domestic Relations Act (after May 17, 1995) MEP may collect support for a disabled child indefinitely. If a creditor produces evidence that a child is disabled after age 22, MEP will continue to collect.

Where a child is not disabled, however, MEP's policy is to enforce the ongoing child support in non-specific orders until the earliest of the following things occurs. The child:

• Turns age 18 (regardless of what legislation the order is granted under and where the child resides) and ceases to be a full-time student. "Full-time" status as a student is determined by the school the child attends. MEP collects support for the months of the child’s regular school vacation or break until the next available school semester, but will stop collecting if the child does not return to school at the beginning of the next semester.
• completes any post-secondary degree, diploma or certificate
• marries or enters into a common-law relationship
• ceases to be under the care and control of the creditor
• reaches age 22. Extensions can be granted where children are in their last semester of completing a first degree, diploma or certificate, and have not yet completed it because their birthday falls early in the year (i.e. January – May).

Once MEP stops collecting ongoing support for an adult child under a non-specific order, MEP will not resume collection without a new court order.

Child status review procedure

A debtor can request that MEP do a child status review if the debtor believes the child may no longer be eligible for support. This request can be made by phone or in writing.

Where the creditor lives in Alberta, a child status review takes about two months to complete. In a review, MEP generally will:

• require the debtor to continue paying support during the investigation
  
• put a "financial hold" on the account if there is a risk of overpayment to the creditor.
  In other words, if there are no arrears or other charges against which the debtor could get a credit, MEP will not pay out any money to the creditor until the child status review is finished
  
• send a written request to the creditor for proof of the facts that MEP needs to verify. MEP will cease collection where a creditor does not respond to this request, so it is essential that creditors keep their addresses current with MEP. The proof required is a Statutory Declaration sworn by the creditor before a Commissioner for Oaths. Where the creditor claims the child is in school or is disabled, the creditor must also supply a supporting letter from the school or medical practitioner.
  
• review the Statutory Declaration and supporting letter, and do any necessary further investigation. MEP may have additional questions for the creditor, school or medical practitioner
  
• make a decision on whether to continue to collect ongoing support, and inform both clients in writing of this decision. Clients are reminded that our decision is an administrative one and that they should seek a legal ruling of the court if they do not agree.
  

Confidential information

Section 15(1) of the Maintenance Enforcement Act protects client confidentiality by allowing MEP to use client information only for the purposes of enforcing a court order. Unless the creditor and adult child authorize the release of information, MEP cannot provide copies of the Statutory Declarations and may not be able to tell the debtor all the details MEP relied on to make its enforcement decision.

Global support orders

A global child support order is an order (like those given under the child support guidelines) which sets a total amount of money to be paid for the support of a number of children instead of setting an amount per child. For example, a global support order would require the debtor to pay "$600 for the support of the children, Dick and Jane," instead of "$300 per child for each of the children, Dick and Jane."

Debtors sometimes ask MEP to adjust the amount of support it collects under their global support order when one of the children is no longer eligible for support. It is important for clients to understand that MEP cannot make this adjustment without a new court order. In the example above of a global support order, MEP is required to continue to collect $600 per month even if Jane turned 18 and left school. There are two exceptions to this:

• the creditor provides MEP with written instructions to collect a lesser amount. In this case, MEP staff will collect the lesser amount for as long as they are instructed by the creditor to do so, or
• the child ceases to reside with the creditor, and becomes dependent on and resides with the debtor. In this case MEP can exercise discretion to collect a lower amount of maintenance, so long as the court order was granted under child support guidelines.
  

Further information

For more information on MEP's policy and procedures, please call us in Edmonton at 780-422-5555, or dial 310-0000 for toll-free access anywhere in Alberta, e-mail us at albertamep@gov.ab.ca or through MEP Accounts Online, fax us at 780-401-7575, or write us at:

Maintenance Enforcement Program
7^th Floor J.E. Brownlee Building
10365-97 Street
Edmonton, AB T5J 3W7