Father torn apart by time and funding (9)
I believe the answer is:
patronage
'funding' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'father torn apart by time' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'pa' (pa can mean dad or father).
'torn apart' becomes 'tron' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'time' becomes 'age' (an age is a period of time).
'pa'+'tron'+'age'='PATRONAGE'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for patronage that I've seen before include "custom in restaurant?" , "financial backing" , "Regular custom" , "supporting role" , "Condescension" .)