Life changes — a new job, a move, a shift in a child’s needs — and the Divorce Act allows your support or parenting order to change with it, but only once a genuine material change in circumstances is shown.
The Material Change Threshold
Under section 17 of the Divorce Act, a court won’t vary a support or parenting order simply because one spouse wants a different outcome. The Supreme Court of Canada’s test asks whether the change, if known at the time, would likely have resulted in different terms in the original order. A change that was already foreseeable — or already accounted for — when the order was made generally won’t qualify.
Common material changes include:
- A significant increase or decrease in a payor’s income
- A child no longer being eligible for support (reaching adulthood, leaving a parent’s home)
- A parent’s move affecting the existing parenting schedule
- A meaningful shift in a child’s needs as they grow
Two Paths to Updating Child Support
- Recalculation without court: In limited circumstances, BC’s Child Support Recalculation Service can update child support annually based on current income, without a court application — available only for certain Provincial Court orders or written agreements, where both parents live in BC and the order wasn’t based on undue hardship or self-employment income.
- Formal variation application: Where recalculation doesn’t apply, or where parenting time or spousal support is also at issue, a formal court application is needed, with updated financial disclosure from both sides.
Our Approach
We don’t just process variation requests — we assess whether you actually meet the legal threshold first, so you’re not paying for an application that was never going to succeed. Where it qualifies, we negotiate updated terms and file to formally vary your order.
The Gap Emerald Simple Divorce Fills
It’s common for a genuinely difficult year — a job loss, a move, a change in a child’s needs — to push someone straight into a variation application, without first checking whether the legal threshold is actually met. We assess the threshold before any application is filed, so the time and cost go toward a request that has a real chance of succeeding.
What’s Unique About Emerald Simple Divorce
- Threshold assessed first — we tell you honestly whether your situation meets the material change test before filing anything.
- Right process for the change — recalculation where it applies, a formal application where it doesn’t.
- Updated disclosure done properly — both sides’ current financial information gathered before terms are renegotiated.