The Child Support Obligation of Step-Parents 18 Canadian Journal of Family Law 2001

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18 Can. J. Fam. L. 9 (2001)
The Child Support Obligation of Step-Parents

handle is hein.journals/cajfl18 and id is 15 raw text is: TIE CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION OF
STEP-PARENTS
Carol Rogerson*
Table of Contents
I. Introduction ..................................................... 10
I1. Setting the Context: Social Science and Legal Policy .... ... 19
A. What Social Science Research Tells Us About
Step-Families .......................... .............. ........ 19
B. The Pull of Conflicting Policy Imperatives .............. 27
C. Legal Choices: How Other Countries Have Dealt
with Step-Parent Support Obligations ............. ... 37
III. Review of Current Canadian Case Law ................... 49
A. The thresholdfor liability: standing in the place of
a parent ................................ .............. ........ 51
1. The legislative framework ...................... 51
2. Judicial inteipretation of the legislation ......... 57
(a) The law prior to Chartier ........................... 58
(b) The Chartier decision ................ ................. 64
(c) The case lawpost-Chartier ......................... 80
(d) Conchiding comments on the threshold for
liability .................................. ........ 99
B. Assessment and apportionment ......................... 106
1. hIntroduction: assessment and apportionment
prior to 1997 ................................................... 106
2. The fiamework of the guidelines ........................111
3. Chartier and issues of assessment ......................... 118
4. Case law under s. 5 of the guidelines ..................... 124
(a) Biological parent paying no support;
step-parent pays the table amount .................. 126
(b) Biological parent paying support; some
reduction of step-parent's table amount or
fidl payment by both parents? ...................... 133
(c) Discretionamy decision-making: the nature
of the relationship and time-limits ......... 140
IV. Conch sion ................................... .............................. 151