Honourable Justice Marie-Christine Laberge rendered an important judgment on November 1st with respect to the automatic collection of alimony and child support. She concluded that the professional fees that a self-employed physician earns should and indeed must be collected by the MRQ by means of automatic withholding at source in the hands of the RAMQ, just like the revenue of any salaried employee would be.
In her judgment, Judge Laberge reviews the jurisprudence on the issue of withholding support payments at source out of the fees earned (as opposed to salaries) by the husband, and concludes that given the terms of the Act to Facilitate the Payment of Support, there is no justification to treat professional fees differently.
So, doctors and surgeons, whether employed at a hospital or self-employed or working in a clinic or private office, must all pay their alimony and child support by means of automatic collection by the MRQ, and they are no longer entitled to the “preferential” treatment which existed before, where the MRQ “trusted” them to pay support without the legal constraints that apply to everybody else.
This judgment has not yet been published digitally. As a result, here is a hyperlink that will permit you to download a redacted copy of the original judgment.
