Justice Reform Initiatives ~ Early Solutions, Faster Justice

Family Justice Reform Projects

Administrative Recalculation of Child Support Orders

On June 1, 2006, the Ministry of Attorney General implemented a Child Support Recalculation Service (CSRS) pilot project in the Kelowna Family Court. CSRS is a child support service that automatically recalculates child support amounts each year by applying the child support guidelines to updated income information.

The CSRS is designed to prevent parents from returning to court with child support variations, while ensuring that the child receives support and that the support amount is appropriate to the payor's income.

CSRS is mandatory for all Family Relations Act (FRA) child support orders made on or after June 1, 2006 in the Kelowna Family Court. CSRS is not mandatory for parents who have written support agreements, but these parents may wish to opt into the Service.

Under some limited circumstances, the service must decline to recalculate a child support amount. Such circumstances include when a child is over the age of majority or if the support order is governed by the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act.

For information about administrative recalculation of child support orders, see the Department of Justice document "Family Justice Initiatives" and the Law Society of British Columbia bulletin "Child support recalculation – pilot project launched in Kelowna."