Child support officers are Attorney General employees who:
- offer specialized assistance in child support matters, and
- help parents to navigate the procedures involved to get and change child support orders and agreements.
What do they do?
- Provide parents with information about:
- legislation (the law),
- court,
- the child support guidelines,
- the BC Family Maintenance Agency,
- the availability of legal and financial advice, and
- the range of settlement and mediation options available.
- Identify the appropriate services for each case and assess the need for referrals to other support services.
- Explore whether facilitated negotiation is appropriate in a particular case and if so, facilitate negotiations between parents who want to work toward agreement on child support.
- Provide parents with information regarding the current tax treatments of support payments.
- Help parents to compile the required financial disclosure documents by offering advice about where and how to access financial documentation.
- Calculate child support amounts based on a review of existing orders and financial information.
- Help parents complete the required documents (including consent and agreement documents and applications for court), draft orders and legal documents, and witness the signatures of both parties as a commissioner for taking affidavits.
Where can I find one?
Child support officers provide services to clients across the province. For more information about speaking with a Child Support Officer please contact 1 844 747 3963 or visit the online directory of Family Justice Centres and Justice Access Centres to find a location near you.