Section 7 expense splitter
Child care, braces, hockey, tutoring, university: the extra costs of raising a child often cause more friction than the monthly support amount. Enter both incomes and the costs, and see each parent's share in proportion to income.
General information, not legal advice. This tool runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere unless you choose to email yourself a link.
Your incomes
Use each parent's yearly income before tax. In Canada this is usually the income used for child support under the Guidelines (line 15000 of the tax return, with some adjustments). In the US, use the income figure your state's guidelines use.
The expenses
Enter yearly amounts. If a subsidy, benefit or tax saving reduces the cost (for example a child care subsidy or a tax deduction), enter it in the second box so the split is on the net cost. If the child contributes (for example from a job or savings toward school), enter that too.
What section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines says
Extra costs on top of the table amount
Monthly child support from the tables covers ordinary costs. Section 7 lets a court add a share of certain extra costs, often called special or extraordinary expenses. Most provinces and territories have a similar rule in their own guidelines; Quebec uses its own model.
The six kinds of cost
Child care needed because of a parent's work, illness, disability or education; the child's share of medical and dental insurance; health costs more than $100 a year above what insurance pays; extra education costs or programs for the child's particular needs; post-secondary education; and extraordinary extracurricular activities.
Necessary and reasonable
The cost has to be necessary in light of the child's best interests and reasonable given both parents' means, the child's means and how the family spent money before separating. For school extras and activities, the cost also has to be "extraordinary", which looks at things like income and the number and cost of activities.
Shared in proportion to income
The guiding principle is that the parents share the cost in proportion to their incomes, after taking off any contribution from the child. Subsidies, benefits and tax deductions or credits for the expense are taken into account. That is what this tool does.
Many states call these add-ons
US states set their own child support guidelines. Many treat some extra costs, most often work-related child care, health insurance for the child and uninsured medical costs, as additions to the basic support amount, sometimes called add-ons or additional expenses. Which costs count, and how they are split, depends on your state, so check your state's guidelines or child support agency before relying on a proportional split.
General information, not advice for your situation
This tool is
- A quick way to see a proportional split of special child expenses.
- A plain-language summary of section 7 of Canada's Federal Child Support Guidelines.
- A worksheet you can print and bring to a lawyer or mediator.
This tool isn't
- A ruling on whether a particular cost counts. That depends on the facts and on your province, territory or state.
- A child support calculation. The monthly table amount is separate; see the FairWell calculators.
- Tax advice about which subsidies, deductions or credits apply to you.
Rules differ between provinces, territories and states, and they change. Before you rely on anything here, check it with a family lawyer, mediator or other qualified professional in your province or state.
Where this comes from
Official sources we checked on October 22, 2026.
- Federal Child Support Guidelines, section 7 (Justice Laws Website) Special or extraordinary expenses, including subsection 7(2) on sharing in proportion to income.
- Federal Child Support Guidelines, full text
- Department of Justice Canada: family law, child support
- USA.gov: getting help with child support (links to state agencies) Page last updated November 17, 2025.
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