Retirement vs. child support - Court finds that 68 year old man with health conditions should have a part time job for the purpose of supporting children

In Mohamud v Abdullahi, 2023 ABKB 371, a 68-year old father applied to reduce his child support obligations after he was terminated and thereafter decided to retire.

The father had five children of which four were residing with the mother. The father had worked for AHS as a systems planner. In recent years, the father was suffering from arthritis and blood clots in his lungs which caused breathing difficulties and required medication. The father did not submit extensive medical evidence supporting these conditions outside of his sworn statement in the affidavit.

After being terminated the father decided to retire and was living off of CPP income and private pension income. For her part, the mother had not worked years due to a disability, for which she received AISH payments.

In considering the father’s application to reduce his child support, Justice Harris found that it was reasonable to expect the father to work a part-time minimum wage job. On this basis, Justice Harris imputed an income of $15,600 to the father which was in addition to his CPP and pension income.

Justice Harris reviewed other decisions where the payor parent chose to retire after 65 and noted: "Without children, the Father would have every right to retire. However, this is not the fact scenario before the Court. The fact is, he does have children and he is obligated to support them in a way that is consistent with his capacity to do so."

On the father’s medical condition Justice Harris further noted: "While I accept that he has some health issues, perhaps commensurate with his age, these assertions are not the objective evidence needed to meet his burden of proof."

This case should be a signal to payor parents nearing retirement or who may be facing health issues in their later years which threaten to take them out of the work force. It would seem that absent significant medical evidence there is a risk that notional income could be imputed to a payor parent who has left the workforce.

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