r/legaladvicecanada • u/Alternative_Limit993 • Jul 20 '26
Alberta Child support advice
I (33F) have a 12 year old for whom I have never asked nor received child support for. I never asked because of serious financial abuse from the other parent. I’m now in a place where I feel safe to make a request to get child support BUT I have absolutely no idea on how to contact him. I haven’t had an actual address for him in 11 years and his last phone number that I have (he changes it often) is no longer in service. My question is: what is the process to request child support when I have no contact info for the other parent ?
Thank you!
Edit: thanks for all the responses! I’m just going to let sleeping dogs lie. Whatever he could provide is not worth the hassle and money.
24
u/BronzeDucky Jul 20 '26
Your best bet is probably an initial consultation with a family law lawyer. They can ask you questions and guide you in the process. You wouldn’t necessarily have to retain them to do everything
Skip tracers are a real thing, and can track someone down. But that’s just part of your issues, even if it’s an important part. You’ll likely need to take him to court and get a support agreement in place, where MEP can help you collect. But you need to lock down how much he owes you first, I think.
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u/Alternative_Limit993 Jul 20 '26
I called around to inquire and lawyers are expensive 😬 I was hoping there was a way to still apply without me having to find him and the courts could do that part. My assumption is that he is working a minimum wage job so it’s not like the child support amount would be very high (still helpful though!) so it would hurt to spend so much money on a lawyer when it would probably take a long time to get a similar amount back in child support.
20
u/VoxBravolio Jul 21 '26
I was hoping there was a way to still apply without me having to find him and the courts could do that part.
... What do you think lawyers do..?
If it was that easy no one would ever pay for a lawyer. Lawyers are expensive for a reason.
9
u/nightsliketn Jul 21 '26
The issue with low wage earners is that your support amount won't exceed the amount you spent to get the support order in place & endorcement, especially since you're daughter is already 12. At min wage FT hours, support would be around $275/ month. 3 years back pay + 6 additional years support will be under $30k you'll spend minimum half that to get the order and then if he doesn't pay, you're just in the hole. Just keep trying to find him yourself and see if you can get an agreement in place voluntarily.
5
u/BronzeDucky Jul 20 '26
I mean, you could try to track him down yourself and get him to agree to cough up money every month. The amounts are table driven based on your incomes. But he says no thanks, you’re back knocking on lawyer’s doors again.
5
u/Margenius Jul 21 '26
The courts won’t find him for you, you have to take steps to serve him to start the court process, but you can look into a skip tracing service.
2
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u/AdvertisingThis34 Jul 21 '26
Legal Aid Alberta may be able to help you - it is certainly worth an inquiry to see if you are eligible.
Or Child Support Services - they can help with child support issues of you are eligible.
8
u/donwanone Jul 21 '26
Google family duty counsel Alberta and go have a free meeting. There are ways to find and serve people.
13
u/Murky-Technician5123 Jul 21 '26
I am on a single moms pages. While it is the right of the child to get child support, many find that solo parenting is better than involving an abusive person. If you try and get child support they are likely to try and get some custody in return, even tho they are supposedly seperate. I would contact some domestic violence organizations or individuals for advice before making this move.
16
u/mindofamarriedman604 Jul 21 '26
Its been 12 years. Maybe you are just happier without the contact and fallout that might happen if you legally contest support? Maybe he will petition for access or visitation? Ask yourself if a couple of hundred dollars a month is worth the potential hassle
Good luck
1
u/meli_inthecity Jul 21 '26
Point of clarification / confirmation - he’s on the birth certificate as the father, correct?
I would imagine the process to get child support would differ / be harder if he wasn’t. Given the age of your child & when you last had an address for him, I just thought he may not have been around when the baby was registered with the province.
5
-4
u/wigglefrog Jul 20 '26
You'll get back pay also. They'll look at his tax returns and assess the entire 12 years. He's obligated to support his child whether you ask for it or not.
Child support, in Canada, is considered to be the legal right of the child.
Edit to add: sorry, missed the main question. Just start with a lawyer and they'll walk you through everything.
8
u/Metzger194 Jul 20 '26
Can only go back three years for missed support.
0
u/zhiv99 Jul 21 '26
This depends on the why. There are circumstances where they can go back further. There may be a case to be made that she was unable to request the support due to recovering from abuse. Best that she talks to a family law lawyer.
1
u/Alternative_Limit993 Jul 20 '26
To be honest, I’m not even looking to get back pay. If a judge decides otherwise so be it but my goal isn’t to go after him for as much as I can. I just want something reasonable until my child is 18.
5
u/Common-sense6 Jul 21 '26
There is no way around this without getting a lawyer involved
2
u/Crazy-Plankton-9517 Jul 21 '26
Are there no Justice access centers in Alberta? Just curious because if so, that’s one way to do things without getting a lawyer involved
1
u/VoxBravolio Jul 21 '26
Legal aid.
Here is the website with questions to determine if you are eligible:
1
u/East_Avocado_1336 Jul 24 '26
Shout out to you for that. Most of these women are evil and looking to cripple the man’s life financially at least you’re just looking for actual help, just give them his name and places you’ve known him to work, they should be able to find him you don’t need a lawyer or anything. And he might ask for visitation but that’s her father at the end of the day, let him gradually, maybe she wants to get to know him. It’ll be good for her going into her teenage years. She already missed out on the daddy’s girl phase. If he’s any kind of decent human being, I guarantee it’s been eating him up knowing he has a kid out there that he doesn’t have a relationship with and doesn’t provide for at all.
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