Child and Spousal Support

When you separate from a partner or spouse, you may have to discuss support payments. This section of our website contains information about how the rules for child support and spousal support work.

Children have the right to financial support from both their parents. When parents separate, one parent may send money to the other to help support their children. This money is called child support.

Child support helps cover the costs of raising a child such as feeding, clothing, housing, and otherwise providing for everyday needs.

Child support payments are calculated based on the payer’s income. The goal of child support is to contribute to the cost of raising the child such as clothing, housing, and feeding them.

You and your child’s other parent can try to agree on an amount of child support. If you can’t agree, you can apply to the court for an order The court uses national guidelines called the Federal Child Support Guidelines to make decisions about child support payments.

When two married or common law spouses end their relationship, one spouse may send money to the other to help support them after the relationship has ended. These payments are called spousal support. Sometimes it’s called alimony or maintenance.

You may request spousal support after your relationship ends if you depended on your partner financially and are now unable to support yourself.

Spousal support is not an automatic obligation like child support is. A court will consider things like:

  • Whether you were financially dependent on your spouse or partner
  • What your financial need is currently
  • How long you lived together
  • How long it might take you to support yourself financially after separation

In New Brunswick, a court can only consider granting you spousal support from a common law partner if you also:

  • Lived together for at least three years,

or

  • Lived together and had a child together.

In New Brunswick, you can have your support order filed with the provincial Office of Support Enforcement (OSE). The OSE is responsible for making sure that payers of support make their payments on time and can take steps if payments are late or incomplete.

In New Brunswick, if you pay or receive support you can apply to change the support order any time there has been a “material change in circumstances.” This means any change that would meaningfully affect the order for support. For example:

  • a meaningful change in the payer’s income,
  • a change in the parenting arrangements that affects which parent is entitled to receive child support, or
  • a child reaching the age of majority and no longer being a dependent.

You and the other person can change your support payments by signing a written agreement. If you can’t agree, one of you can apply to the court to change your current order or agreement.

New Brunswick also has a child support recalculation service available to people in certain circumstances.