Draft or change a child or spousal support order
Learn how lawyers can draft and change a child or spousal support order that the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) can enforce.
About support orders
A support order is a direction issued by a court or judge for one person to pay child and/or spousal support to another person. In Ontario, when a person is ordered by the court to pay child or spousal support payments, the support order is automatically filed with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO).
FRO is a program of the Government of Ontario that helps families get the support they are entitled to by collecting, distributing and enforcing child and spousal support payments.
How to draft a clear and complete support order
A clear and complete support order will help FRO enforce it.
Use the standard terms for support orders set out in Ontario Regulation 182/08 made under the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996.
For the support payments, make sure you quantify the:
- dollar amount
- frequency
- start date
- expenses
If costs are awarded, make sure the portion “related to support and maintenance” is specified in the order so that we can enforce those costs as “support.”
Include support termination dates, where appropriate.
Specify arrears
Specify the amount or portion of arrears that is owed to a social service agency, as well as any amount owed to the support recipient.
More than one child
A global child support order has a single support amount for multiple children. When seeking this type of order, if appropriate, specify the dollar amount that will be payable for the remaining children if one child's support payments will end at a future date.
Special expenses
Set out special expenses (such as medical, child care and extracurricular expenses) as a fixed amount or as an expense that must be claimed on a sworn statement of arrears submitted by the support recipient. If you don’t do this, FRO won’t be able to enforce special expenses.
Specify an obligation to “pay,” rather than “share” special expenses.
For more information, refer to the Ontario Child Support Guidelines or the Federal Child Support Guidelines. The Ontario guidelines are used for claims made under Ontario’s Family Law Act. The federal guidelines are used for claims made under Canada’s Divorce Act.
What you shouldn’t do
When you draft a support order:
- Don’t refer to support being determined or changed annually as “in accordance with the Child Support Guidelines.” We cannot recalculate support in this manner. As a result, we may not be able to collect support.
- Don’t include, in the body of the order, any terms about withdrawal from FRO by the parties.
- Don’t include support provisions that are conditional on certain prerequisites that cannot be determined on the face of the order.
- Don’t include foreign currency amounts in Canadian orders.
- Don’t specify cost-of-living provisions for child support. They are not permitted under the Child Support Guidelines and we cannot enforce them.
Tips for changing a support order
It’s easier for FRO to enforce a support order that’s clear and complete.
Arrears
Fix the amount of any arrears. Include an arrears payment schedule.
Start accrual on the same day
Start the new support accrual on the same day of the month or week as the prior order. This will avoid a double accrual at the month or week of the change.
Previous support order
Include any terms of the prior order that affect the support (for example, termination date).
Obligation to disclose income
Include reference to the annual obligation to make income disclosure, where child support is to be paid, as required by the Ontario Child Support Guidelines or the Federal Child Support Guidelines.
For example, for as long as child support is to be paid, the payor and recipient, if applicable, must provide updated income disclosure to the other party each year. The payor and recipient must send an update income disclosure within 30 days of the anniversary of this order in accordance with section 24.1 of the child support guidelines.
Read information to help parents arrange child support.
Serve FRO
You need to serve the FRO Legal Services Branch with your court documents when requesting a court order for enforcement relief or when responding to an enforcement proceeding started in court by FRO.
You can serve court documents on FRO by mail, fax or email:
Email: FROLegalService@ontario.ca.
This email is not for client service-related inquiries or for the delivery of other documents to FRO. For case-related inquiries, please contact us at
Legal Services Branch
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
7th Floor-125 Sir William Hearst Avenue
North York, Ontario
M3M 0B5
If the payor or recipient lives outside of Ontario, please contact the interjurisdictional support orders unit.
Contact us
For general information about FRO, please call:
Toronto:
Agents are available Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
You may also send a letter to:
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Interjurisdictional support order unit
If the payor or recipient lives outside of Ontario, please contact the interjurisdictional support orders unit.
Family Responsibility Office
Interjurisdictional Support Order Unit
PO Box 600, Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8
Canada