Is soap star Jack Wagner required to pay retroactive child support?

This week, TMZ.com uncovered that soap opera legend Jack Wagner, and ex-beau
of Heather Locklear, has a 23-year-old daughter, Carrie, whose existence
he knew nothing about. Turns out that in the 1980s, Jack had a fling with
an unidentified woman who became pregnant with Carrie and put her up for
adoption soon after birth.

Carrie, who was desperate to discover the identity of her biological father,
hired a Private Investigator to track him down and the investigation led
to a concert in Boca Raton, Florida, where Jack Wagner was performing
with Rick Springfield.

The two instantly connected and have been inseparable ever since. After
working in so many soap operas, Wagner now seems to be living in one.

However, the reality of the situation is that despite this amazing connection
and the reunion of a father and his daughter, Jack managed to dodge a
child support obligation throughout Carrie’s dependent life.

In addition, since Jack is an incredibly high-income earner, he would have
been on the hook for a significant amount of money for at least the first
18 years of her life. But now, Carrie is 23 years old. Has she missed
the boat with regard to a claim for retroactive child support?

The current law in Ontario is that in order to qualify for retroactive
child support, the definition of child or child of the marriage must be
satisfied under whichever Act, i.e. the
Divorce Act or the
Family Law Act, you choose to bring your claim. Therefore, the child must still be eligible
for child support. At 23, Carrie may be independent and therefore no longer
eligible for child support.

However, if she is currently enrolled in a full-time educational program
at university or college and thus still requires parental support, she,
or her parents may be able to bring a claim for retroactive support.

Assuming that she is enrolled in a full-time educational program and therefore
satisfies the definition of child of marriage, then the following test
would be used by the Ontario courts when making a determination regarding
retroactive child support:

• Determine whether a retroactive award is appropriate by considering the
  following factors:
  • The reason for the recipient parent’s unreasonable delay in seeking
    child support;
  • The blameworthy conduct of the paying parent;
  • The past and present circumstances of the child; and
  • Any hardship imposed by a retroactive award
• Determine what period the amount should cover:
  • When did the recipient parent give effective notice, i.e. inform the payor
    parent of a desire for an award or an increase in an award. Generally,
    support will not be made retroactive to a date more than three years before
    formal notice was given.
• Determine the proper quantum (i.e. amount)

The quantum is determined in accordance with the applicable legislative
scheme, i.e. the
Child Support Guidelines; or

The courts may choose to alter the time period that the retroactive award
captures if doing so would ensure overall fairness.

If, however, Carrie is not enrolled in a full-time educational program
and is therefore an independent, neither she, nor her parents may bring
a valid and viable claim for retroactive child support.

This is especially so pursuant to an Ontario Court of Appeal decision in
2002 when the claims of two adult children and their mother were dismissed.
They claimed that their father had a fiduciary obligation to make adequate
provision for their support and sought compensation for breach of fiduciary
duty and unjust enrichment. The Court of Appeal rejected their claims
on the basis that they were claims for retroactive child support and that
as the children were grown and no longer “dependents”, there
was no basis for same under Ontario legislation. The Court of Appeal therefore
concluded that it was “plain and obvious” on the facts of the
case that the father did not breach any fiduciary obligation to support
his children. The Supreme Court of Canada also agreed with this reasoning
in another case.

As such, it may be too little, too late for Carrie to get the child support
to which she was entitled throughout her childhood and adolescence. However,
judging by the happiness she is experiencing while getting to know her
father, according to TMZ.com, it is probably safe to assume that she doesn’t mind.

The assumptions set out above would apply if she was not adopted. However,
since she was adopted she would have no claim for child support.