Spousal Support Calculators

Readers of my website will recall my frustrated attempts to create on-line calculators to handle the math required by the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines. Despite hours and hours of effort, I simply couldn't coax JavaScript to generate exactly correct results; the math required by the "with child support" formulas is just too complex and defeated me. As a result, I decided to take my "with child support" calculator off-line rather than have people going to court with inaccurate information.

This has not proven a problem for Bryan Delaney, an Ottawa family law lawyer, whose firm's website features calculators for both the "without child support" formula and the basic "with child support" formulas at http://www.delaneys.ca/calculators_main.html. Congratulations are due to Mr. Delaney, although, with respect, I am not sure how accurate the results of his "with child support" calculator will be with the limited information it seems to require.

The surviving calculators available on my website are:

1. child support, under the old and new child support tables for British Columbia;
   
2. children's special expenses; and,
   
3. the "without child support" spousal support formula.

My technical overview of calculations under the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines is available at the website of the Department of Justice at http://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/fcy-fea/spo-epo/calc/index.html.

Update: 25 May 2011

DivorceMate, the company that sells spousal support software to lawyers, has published a free, public spousal support calculator. Read my post on the calculator for more information, or click on the "advisory guidelines" label below.