Can You Get Child Support from Your Ex After 50 Years in Ontario?
Multiple reports of a 74-year-old California mother getting $150,000 in child support owed to her from 50 years ago are hitting the headlines.
CNN reports:
“Toni Anderson married Don Lenhert in 1966, but the couple split two years later.
During the divorce proceeding in mid-1970, the judge ordered Lenhert to pay child support for their 3-year-old daughter Lane, consisting of monthly payments of $210 for the first 2½ years and then dropping down to $160 per month until Lane turned 18.
The order commenced on January 1, 1971.
But Lenhert never paid.
Those monthly payments comprise a principal of about $30,000, Anderson said, and with a 10% interest rate, he owes her $150,000.
“The first check bounced and then he went off to Canada with his girlfriend and had two more kids. He completely disappeared,” Anderson said.
…
Last year, Anderson realized there’s no statute of limitations for child support payments in California.
She Googled her ex-husband’s name and, she said, found photos of him living what appeared to be a financially sound life in Oregon, with a big house and a boat.
She filed a motion to ask for unpaid child support. Last month, she made her case in court. The judge granted her request.”
Does this sound fair to you?
Some would argue that the mother should have taken steps earlier to enforce support order and it is too prejudicial to require the father to pay now after 50 years. The child is an adult now so the $150,000 amounts to a windfall for the mother.
Others could properly point out that an Order is an Order, not a suggestion and the father should have complied 50 years ago, and any prejudice now is the result of his own misconduct.
Could this happen in Ontario?
As we have written previously the leading case in Canada for child support and retroactive support awards is the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in D.B.S.
If the claim for child support is made for the first time when the “child” is an independent adult, then the short answer is no. Child support is for children of the marriage, not adults who used to have that status.
If the basis of the retroactive claim is valid separation agreement or court order, then the answer would likely be yes. But each case is unique, and the court sets out several factors to consider in determining retroactive awards including, proper and timely financial disclosure, delay in seeking enforcement by the recipient and blameworthy conduct of the support payor.
