DIVORCE TIPS

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Note that the author is not a lawyer and any information provided is just helpful knowledge from someone who has been there. You should not interpret it as legal advice. The author is not responsible for adverse outcomes related to acting upon any information offered.  Consult a lawyer  when necessary. 

All tips are (c) 2008, Eric Dormer.

DIVORCE TIP 003

DIvorce Tip #003:
Child Support for a Non-Biological Child

08-Mar-05

Hi Divorce Tip Guy,

I have lived with my wife for a long time, and now we are splitting up. Do I have to support her son, if he is not my biological son?

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The information contained below in this tip is
Copyright (c) Eric Dormer, 2008.

Legal Disclaimer:
Note that I am not a lawyer and any information provided is just helpful knowledge from someone who has been there. You should not interpret it as legal advice. The author is not responsible for adverse outcomes related to acting upon any information offered.  Consult a lawyer  when necessary. 

YES, usually.

In Ontario, if you have "stood in the place of a parent" and provided for the child for a reasonable length of time, then you will be responsible to pay child support for him.

Standing in the place of a parent, normally means you were a step-dad. The test involves a few things, such as: did you provide for the child financially, did you have a social and emotional attachment to the child, were you involved in discipline and setting household rules. If the answer to these questions is more or less YES, then you are required to pay child support. The longer you were in the step-dad role, the more clear it is that you are obligated.

The case law says that this obligation exists even if you were unaware that the son is not your biological child.

Things get trickier when the biological father is still available. It is possible that the biological father, and step-dad will both share child support obligations.

The courts are very reluctant to let a biological father escape his obligations to pay child support, simply because a step-dad is around, and might pay, or might pay in the future.

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