On July 1, 2007, a vested right was created in order to maintain the child whose custody time is lower than 40% within the family size. In order to obtain this vested right, the client of a last resort financial assistance program must, as of June 30, 2007:
- Be an income security recipient;
AND
- Have a child whose annual custody time is lower than 40%.
If the custody time is lower than 20%, the amount of the adjustment for children is established by multiplying this amount by the custody percentage (3.1.8.3).
The vested right is granted to the adult who has custody of the child.
OBTAINING THE VESTED RIGHT
In order to obtain the vested right, the adult must, as of June 30, 2007, fulfil the following conditions:
1. Be an Income Security recipient.
The adult who is in one of the following situations is considered as having received financial assistance of last resort:
- The assistance is allocated while waiting for an attainable right;
- The assistance is allocated by virtue of the overriding principle;
- The adult is the spouse of a student;
Adults who submitted an assistance application as of June 2007 will be eligible for the vested right, if they were eligible for at least $1 for the month of June 2007. Adults who are RETROACTIVELY eligible to an amount for the month of June 2007 can benefit from this vested right.
2. Have a child for whom the annual custody time is lower than 40%.
The custody time is calculated on an annual basis and then converted into a monthly basis.
Example:
A ruling granting shared custody between two parents gives the father custody in accordance with the following terms:
- One out of every two weekends;
- One week during the Holiday Season;
- One month during the summer.
The calculation is performed as follows:
- 26 weekends X 2 days = 52 days;
- One week at Christmas = 5 days;
- One month during the summer = 22 days;
- Total days of custody = 79 days.
N.B.: The calculations for the week at Christmas and the summer month do not take into consideration the weekend days which were already calculated.
79/365: the custody time is thus 21.64%.
Since the child’s custody is a FACTUAL SITUATION, it is not necessary to have a ruling in order to consider the custody as being shared. However, it is necessary to have a statement from the parents confirming the agreement and the terms of the custody. This situation must generally be ratified by the court.
However, a written document is accepted in order to certify the agreement if both parents are clients.
The addition, in JULY 2007, of a child for whom custody is lower than 40%, does not constitute entitlement to a vested right. As of July 1st, in order to be considered dependent, the child’s custody must be ensured for at least 40% of the time.
MAINTENANCE OF THE VESTED RIGHT
The adult preserves the vested right for as long as the adult, without interruption, is a recipient of income security and for as long as the recipient has custody of a child for which custody time is lower than 40%.
1. A vested right is maintained since there is no interruption in the assistance in the following situations:
- When the adult no longer receives assistance because of work income – for a period of six months;
- When a client requires assistance again, if the application is submitted no later than the month following the six-month period;
- When a request for assistance is made during the month of the cancelation and the client is eligible to an amount for the month of the cancelation;
- When a retroactive allocation has the effect of re-establishing the assistance continuity.
When there is a claim following an ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR, the vested right cannot be lost.
The application, over a previous period, of alimony or child support arrears cannot cause someone to lose the vested right.
The vested right is attributed to the adult – when a spouse is lost or gained the right follows this adult.
2. A vested right is maintained, since there is still a child for whom custody is lower than 40%, in the following situations:
- The child is placed with a family-type resource with or without an intervention plan or individual services (3.1.8.2);
- The deceased child who remains in the family size for three months (3.1.8.2);
- The child for whom custody time is modified while remaining lower than 40%;
- The child who pursues his/her studies in another city.
LOSS OF THE VESTED RIGHT
A vested right is lost when the client ceases being eligible for income security for at least one month or when the client has no more dependent children for whom custody is lower than 40%.
1. A vested right is lost since assistance is interrupted in the following situations:
- Cancellation of the assistance for at least one month for a reason other than work income;
- Assistance claim for at least one complete month for a reason other than work income;
The claiming of a complete month of assistance causes the loss of the vested right for the periods following the claimed months.
The claiming of the amounts, which are allocated as vested rights, occurs as a new debt or misrepresentation.
If the claim is made following the realization of a right, the vested right is lost for the periods following the months claimed for realized rights. The amounts allocated for a vested right for the periods following the realized right are claimed as a new debt.
Example:
In December 2007, the client receives an amount from the CSST for the period starting on June 2 and ending on July 31, 2007. Since two months of assistance are claimed, the vested right is lost.
The months of July and August are claimed as realized rights. The months allocated as a vested right for the months of September to December are claimed as a new debt.
2. A vested right is lost since there are no more children for whom custody is lower than 40% in the following situations:
- The custody time has increased to 40% or more;
- The child definitively leaves the family;
- The child returns to becoming dependent upon the other parent;
- Cohabitation is resumed between the two parents.
When parents resume living together under the same roof in the framework of a family-based assistance or mutual aid situation (3.1.6), this does not cause them to lose their vested right.