Child Support Recalculation Service

The Child Support Recalculation Service helps families keep child support in line with parents’ income without having to return to court. You need to apply to be considered for this service. If your order is eligible, your child support amounts will automatically be recalculated each year as long as you are enrolled.

The service is available to families with a court order or agreement for child support where both parents live in New Brunswick. Either the recipient of child support or a paying party may apply.

You can apply if your court order or agreement has been in place for more than a year. If you are applying for the first time, you can apply 120 days before the one-year anniversary date of the order.

You are NOT ELIGIBLE if any of the following applies:

• If you and/or the other party live outside New Brunswick
• If the paying party’s gross annual income is over $150,000
• If the recipient’s income is required, their gross annual income is over $150,000
• If you are only seeking to adjust unpaid child support (arrears)
• If you need to adjust your child support before the anniversary date of your order or agreement due to a change in income (we are not able to retroactively adjust child support)
• If your court order or agreement filed with the court explicitly states that:
  • The Child Support Recalculation Service should not recalculate your child support
  • The paying party’s income was imputed (this means that the judge relied on what they were told that the paying party’s income was, but the income was not known)
  • Child support was granted in an interim order with a scheduled court date, or where unpaid support (arrears) will be reviewed in the future

You MAY BE ELIGIBLE if all of the following apply:

• You have an existing Canadian court order or agreement filed with the court for child support that:
  • Specifically states the income used to calculate child support
  • Sets the child support amount based on the tables in the applicable Child Support Guidelines and/or directs sharing of special expenses in proportion to the parties’ incomes
  • Provides the following details where parenting time (custody) is shared:
    • the income of both parties
    • that the child support is based upon each party’s income
    • either a) the percentage of time the child(ren) is with each party, or b) how much time is spent with each party so the percentage can be determined If you or the other party are self-employed

If you or the other party’s income is primarily based on self-employment, we are not able to do a recalculation. However, if self-employment income is minimal and is in addition to full-time income, we may be able to recalculate.

To see what your child support amount is likely to be according to the guidelines, use the Government of Canada's Child Support Calculator. 

We use your existing court order or agreement filed with the court to recalculate support for the coming year. If you have a new court order for child support pending, you must wait until your new order is finalized and filed with the court. Then, the earliest you can apply is 120 days before your anniversary date of your order or agreement.

If you would like to proceed with enrollment, you have the following options for sending in the required forms: by email, mail or fax.

Only one of the parties needs to complete the application. We will contact the other party directly to get additional information from them.

Application to Enroll in the Child Support Recalculation Service (PDF 824 KB)

Income Questionnaire (PDF 173 KB)

OPTION 1: Apply by email

1. First, complete the application
2. Attach the additional information we require – see below
3. Then forward it to us at [email protected]

OPTION 2: Apply by mail or fax

1. First, print and complete the application by hand
2. With your printed application, enclose copies of the additional information we require – see below
3. Then mail or fax us using the contact information in the application

Additional information we require:

• Your existing court order or agreement filed with the court.
• List of information on additional children, if there’s not enough room on the application, attach a separate sheet.
• Previous child support recalculation decisions, if applicable.
• If your income was used to calculate support in your order or agreement, a completed income questionnaire and your Notice of Assessment or Reassessment from the previous year.

When we receive your application, we will review it and determine if you meet the eligibility criteria. If you do, we will mail you a Notice of Enrollment. If we determine that we need more information to determine your eligibility, we will contact you to request the information.

Once you are enrolled, we will then use the income information provided to us to recalculate your support amounts. When we have made your recalculations, we will mail you and the other party a Recalculation Decision that will let you know your new amounts and when they start. If you or the other party do not agree with the amount in the decision, you have 30 days to object by filing an application to court to change the support amount.

If at any time during this process, we determine you are not eligible, we will send you a notice by mail with the reasons why. If your circumstances change and you become eligible in the future, you can apply again.

To check the status of your application, please contact us at 1-833-224-2225, email us or fax us at 506-453-2234. For privacy reasons, we can only answer general questions by email.

For as long as you are enrolled, you must keep us updated on:

• changes in contact information for you or the other party
• if you are served notice of a court hearing to change your child support amount
• if a court application is made regarding your child support
• if the circumstances of a child for whom support is being recalculated changes. For example, the child is no longer a dependant