Just heard that Kevin Costner’s former spouse is asking for $240,000.00 a month in child support for their two children. Not sure how they calculate appropriate child support in the state of California, but Canada developed National Child Support Guidelines years ago.

A formula which varies slightly from province to province is based on the Guideline Income of the payor and the number of children.

But unknown to many parents is the fact that the amount of child support is non-negotiable. In other words, parents sometimes try to negotiate child support payments which are not based on the Guidelines, or waive child support payments altogether, for a variety of reasons.

In fact, I have known of a situation where a parent agreed in writing, with the assistance of counsel to waive child support, only to find months later that the same parent that gave up child support payments sought to recover those waived payments.

Because the position of the courts is quite clear, namely that child support payments are for the benefit of the children, a provision to waive child support is not enforceable, and arrears of child support will be due and payable.

As a result, if you and your spouse are discussing child support payments, and there is talk of waiving monthly child support beware, however, there is one way to ensure a spouse will not attempt to seek the payment of those waived child support payments.

Catch my next blog Celebrity Child Support Part 2, to discover that way