“The governing principles applying to claims for special or extraordinary expenses brought under s. 7 of the Child Support Guidelines were usefully and comprehensively reviewed by O’Connell, J. in the case of Kloc v. Wozniak 2013 ONCJ 363 (O.C.J.) (CanLII) at paras 28-37. Some of the principles which have emerged from the case-law are as follows:
• An order for s.7 expenses involves the exercise of judicial discretion, considering the objectives of the guidelines, including section 1(a) which reads “to establish a fair standard for children that they benefit from the financial means of their parents and, in the case of divorce, from the financial means of both spouses after separation”;
• The onus is on the parent seeking the special or extraordinary expenses to prove that the claimed expenses fall within one of the categories under section 7 and that the expenses are necessary and reasonable, having regard to the parental financial circumstances;
• One of the factors to be considered is whether the non-custodial parent was consulted regarding the expenditure prior to the expense being incurred;
• The list of special and extraordinary expenses under clauses 7(1)(a) to (f) is exhaustive and if a claim does not fall within any of the listed categories it must be dismissed;
• Expenses for usual or ordinary extracurricular activities for a particular family are included in the table amount of support;
• A court has a discretion to order that a payor contribute to an expense if the expense is extraordinary (that is, an expense that exceeds the amount which the recipient would reasonably be expected to cover taking into account the table amount of support payable and the recipient’s income), reasonable and necessary; and
• A custodial parent does not have a carte blanche to enrol a child in any number of extra-curricular activities and then look to the non-custodial parent to share all of the costs.”