Hello everyone!
I am new here and it's my first post.
I had two marriages.I have two children from my first marriage and I am the custodial parent.I was married to a woman with three children.Her first husband is jailed now. A week ago I was noticed that I am required to pay child support for my former stepchildren.I visited a lawyer but I was told to be ready to pay 60% of my income as child support and alimony, /because there is no a father who pays and she refuses to get a job/.
Is it possible...is it a joke?????????
If I have to pay 60% of my salary my kids and I have to live in povetry.
BTW I live in Ontario.
Any advice is welkome!

First things first,


I do know of people who have to pay child support for their step-children. It would depend on how long you were married. Did you adopt the children? It sounds like you may end up at least paying alimony if she was a stay at home mom. One thing to check into...If you are paying so much make sure that you can claim the children as exemptions on your tax return! This at least will be a big help to you at tax time. I do not know the laws in Canada...So hopefully a few of the Canadian members will chime in! Good Luck to you!

Sounds like a JOKE to me!! So the deadbeat Dad who is in prison does NOT have to be responsible for his children...but the GOOD stand up guy who has custody of his own children has to provide for his EX wife & this man's kids...????? WTF!! Again I'm with Pann in not knowing the laws in Canada, but it doesn't sound right to me! If you have custody of your children you should not be paying her anything! A few questions right off the bat: How long were you married? Did you adopt her children? (that will change things here) Did their father pay child support? Is there a program in the Canadian system where the man in jail works in the prison system & $ goes to his family?

First I would check with another lawyer...Is there a family services in Canada that specializes in these issues? You may need an attorney familiar with how to get $ from this man in prison to provide for his own kids! You should not be expected to not be able to provide for yourself & your own kids!

Well keep us posted & WELCOME...

http://singlefamilyvoices.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/5091033691
Do some reading through this forum, and you might get some more answers or post in there as well your questions.
It's been a while since this has been talked about, but if memory serves it does seem that in Canada you could end up paying for step children so that very well could be right..study up though to be sure.
As for 60%, could be also I don't know.....here you could pay as much as 50%

ok:
Q:How long were you married?
A:Three years.
Q;Did their father pay child support?
A:No.
Qid you adopt her children?
A:No!
Q:Is there a program in the Canadian system where the man in jail works in the prison system & $ goes to his family?
A: I do not know.

I've just found this:
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/pad-rpad/rep-rap/cons/consdoc/obligat.html
Synopsis:
A person who acts as a parent to the children of his or her spouse may have a legal obligation to support those step-children after the relationship with the spouse ends.
Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that it is not in step-children's best interests for a person to leave a relationship, in which he or she has assumed the role of a parent, in order to avoid paying child support.
In addition, the step-parent generally has to pay support only when the natural parents fail to provide reasonably for the children's support, maintenance or education. When the children's natural parents pay the full amount of child support, the step-parent may not have to pay anything. The law does not say how to determine how much the step-parent should pay when the children's natural parents are not paying the full amount.

http://www.ontariodivorces.com/child-support.html
An obligation for child support may also exist where a person is not the biological parent but has historically stood in the place of the biological parent. This may be the case for a step-parent.
If the parent who has care of the children is receiving social assistance, he or she has an obligation to make reasonable efforts to obtain child support from the other parent.

WOW- I WILL BE THE NEXT JAILED! ...or I have to emigrate

Being on the other end needing the CS from my Ex, I have a different perspective. However I still can not see how you should be made responsible for not only yourself and your kids, but someone else's kids as well. One thing I would be interested to know is how old are the step-kids and how long you have been providing for them. For my 2 kids I am only getting about 25% of my Ex's check. I wonder if there is any way you can show the court how much of your income goes to your own kids (ie. how much you would be paying if you had to pay child support for your kids). I don't know, wish I could could offer you more help.

Wow...I don't care what the laws are saying...it makes NO sense that if you didn't adopt the children that you are FORCED to pay child support. I mean in order to be forced to pay child support there needs to be a paternity test if you are denying that you are the father.....doesn't this law just nullify the paternity tests that are needed? It doesn't make sense. I would find myself a GOOD lawyer....

Again, it is indeed different for Canada. If a man is already supporting "step" kids even without formal adoption he could very well be responsible for continued support after a break up. No paternity testing needed, just the fact that he was already supporting them within a relationship.
But heck, they sure have us beat in health insurance costs.....

In the US there are situations in which a non-biological dad can be faced to pay CS -> http://blog.washingtonpost.com/benchconference/2007/01/dads_of_the_year.html

It's very unfair to the dad. The courts look at the kid's point of view first, however, and they're better off receiving CS from a non-biological Dad than receiving nothing.

Oh holy *bunch of words I can't say here*
I guess that was because they were married...and guess what, that shouldn't matter in my opinion. If she cheated on him and got pregnant with someone else they should be going after the real father and holding her accountable instead of her ex husband.
You are absolutely right that they are better off receiving support from a non father than nothing at all.....but, such as this guy's case where he wasn't even assuming the daddy role ever for her infidelity......

*sigh*...it's just reason #1002 why I'm never getting married again...

It sounds to me that marriage to single mothers/fathers in Canada is going to go down just because of this. I know I would not want to put myself in a situation to support not only my family but an Ex and her kids I rather just date for a long time. Does the law in Canada consider how long the marriage lasted or how much of the child's life was supported by the other parent? Another question, are you going to have visitation with the children? I don't know if that will make any difference. Although I do not think you would have to pay child support if you had the kids 50% of the time.

I know you stated that you contacted one attorney, have you gotten a second opinion? Maybe the second opinion could offer you some good advice. Personally, I think the mother should get some form of income.

Thank you very much!
I will get a second opinion soon...