May 18, 2021 – Eligibility for Child Support

“Section 2 of the Divorce Act defines a child of the marriage to mean:

a child of two spouses or former spouses, who, at the material time, (a) is under the age of majority and who has not withdrawn from their charge, or (b) is the age of majority or over and under their charge but unable, by reason of illness, disability or other cause, to withdraw from their charge or to obtain the necessaries of life.

The law is well-settled that an adult child under the age of 24 who is regularly attending school and pursuing an education in the ordinary course designed to fit the child for the future constitutes an “other cause”: Tapson v. Tapson, 1969 CanLII 541 (ON CA), [1969] O.J. No. 1490 (ON CA).  See also Giorno v. Giorno, 1992 CanLII 2592 (NS CA), [1992] N.S.J. No. 94, 39 R.F.L. (3d) 345 (NS CA).”

         Gagne v. Mendoza, 2018 ONSC 3141 (CanLII) at 39-40