Linda Evangelista’s $46,000/month love child

How much is appropriate child support?

Photo credit: Getty

Linda Evangelista, a 46-year-old single mother from St. Catharines, Ontario (oh - and international supermodel living in Manhattan with a net worth of roughly $8 million), recently filed a claim for $46,000 a month in child support payments from her baby daddy, 49-year-old French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault (oh, and husband of Hollywood megawatt actress Salma Hayek). The staggering sum, which the New York judge presiding over the case said would be “the largest support order in the history of the Family Court”, has caused a media frenzy.

Is the supermodel who once claimed that “we don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day,” merely being greedy on behalf of her four-year old son, Augustin James? Or is it fair game, since she claims that Pinault currently spends that amount on his and Hayek’s four-year old daughter Valentina and up until now has not paid Evangelista a dime?

Not so outrageous

Though it may seem an extraordinary sum, in New York State, child support is calculated at 17 percent of the combined parental income.

Baby-daddy Pinault is the Chief Executive Officer of PPR (Euronext: PP), the holding company that owns Gucci and Yves St. Laurent. He reportedly earns $5.4 million per year and Evangelista reportedly earns $2 million per year. This gives little Augustin James the right to an annual childcare amount of $1.25 million, or nearly $105,000 per month. According to state law, contributing to that amount is the responsibility of both parents. At $46,000 per month, some might say Pinault is actually getting a bargain.

Meanwhile over in sunny California, Charlie Sheen reportedly pays his ex-wife Brooke Mueller $55,000 a month in child support for their two boys, which Mueller had formerly garnisheed straight from Sheen’s cheques at Warner Brothers (NYSE: TWX).

A Canadian comparison

Before you think that New York (and California) laws are ridiculous and such a thing could never happen in Canada, let’s imagine that Evangelista had filed her claim for child support in her home province of Ontario. Since the couple never married, Evangelista’s claim would fall under provincial child support guidelines, rather than federal.

Using the Justice Canada Child Support Online Lookup calculator, the child support payment Evangelista would be entitled to in Ontario (with sole custody and based on Pinault’s $5.4 million salary) would be $40,104 per month. If Evangelista filed in Alberta, little Augustin James would qualify for $45,935 per month. In other words, pretty much the same as what Evangelista applied for in New York.

Of course, keep in mind that these calculations are for illustrative purposes only. With this level of income, you better believe there is a lot more lawyerly input than merely applying a straightforward government formula.

The spirit of the law

The federal Child Support Guidelines (or “CSG” to those all-too familiar with them), were designed in 1997 to address child support issues between divorcing parents. The objectives are:

• To establish a fair standard of support for children that ensures that they continue to benefit from the financial means of both spouses after separation;

• To reduce conflict and tension between spouses by making the calculation of child support orders more objective;

• To improve the efficiency of the legal process by giving courts and spouses guidance in setting the levels of child support orders and encouraging settlement; and

• To ensure consistent treatment of spouses and children who are in similar circumstances.

How it works

The CSG tables take into consideration the cost of living in different parts of the country and provide formulas to determine the costs of raising a child in each province. Using the tables as a starting point, the actual amount of child support is then subject to the number of children involved and the custody arrangement.

Just to make things a little more interesting, each province has its own set of child support guidelines, separate from the federal CSG guidelines. In general:

• Federal guidelines are used in the case of divorce;

• Provincial or territorial guidelines are used if you are not married, or are separated but not divorcing;

• Provincial guidelines trump the federal in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec.

The child support tables only provide guidance for those with parental income of up to $150,000. When parental income reaches into the high six and seven figures, things get more discretionary. This is where highly paid lawyers earn their keep.

As well, “special or extraordinary expenses” (things like private school, medical expenses, hockey camp) can add to child support payments. In Evangelista’s case, 24/7 nanny-care and armed drivers for Augustin James may seem both special and extraordinary, but they do fall within her ‘budget’ of $46,000 per month.

Support for our Canadian sister

At first glance, $46,000 a month to raise a child seems wildly excessive. But when you do the math and look at it in relation to their rich and famous lifestyles, Evangelista’s request is not so far-fetched.

The guidelines for child support – whether in Canada or the US – are designed so that kids like Augustin James (or any child of divorced, separated or unmarried parents) receive as much care from their parents as they would if their parents were together. And in the case of Augustin James, this is what $46,000 a month would do. After all, as moody tweens like to remind us, it’s not their fault they were born! Indeed, both parents must recognize this.

 

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