Section 26.1 — Divorce Act: Guidelines

The Governor in Council may establish guidelines respecting orders for child support, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, guidelines respecting the way in which the amount of an order for child support is to be determined; respecting the circumstances in which discretion may be exercised in the making of an order for child support; authorizing a court to require that the amount payable under an order for child support be paid in periodic payments, in a lump sum or in a lump sum and periodic payments; authorizing a court to require that the amount payable under an order for child support be paid or secured, or paid and secured, in the manner specified in the order; respecting the circumstances that give rise to the making of a variation order in respect of a child support order; respecting the determination of income for the purposes of the application of the guidelines; authorizing a court to impute income for the purposes of the application of the guidelines; and respecting the production of information relevant to an order for child support and providing for sanctions and other consequences when that information is not provided. The guidelines shall be based on the principle that spouses have a joint financial obligation to maintain the children of the marriage in accordance with their relative abilities to contribute to the performance of that obligation. In subsection (1), order for child support means an order or interim order made under section 15.1; a variation order in respect of a child support order; an order made under subsection 18.1(15) or 19(13) in respect of a child support order; or an order made under subsection 28.5(5) or 29.1(5).