Spousal Support

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Spousal Support

 

Spousal support is not an automatic right like child support – entitlement must be established first. Find out about what it takes to establish entitlement.

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What is Spousal Support & when will it be Paid?​

 

  • Spousal support is money paid by the spouse who is the higher income earner to the other.
  • The Family Law Act governs support where the spouse are not married and the Family Law Act and Divorce Act both govern support where the spouses are married.
  • Spousal support is not an automatic right like child support is – a spouse must first establish entitlement.
  • Entitlement can be established by:
  1. Need – Also known as “non-compensatory” entitlement. Non-compensatory support entitlement focuses on the needs of the spouses and on their respective means. It is based on the idea that spouses have ongoing responsibility to care for one another. That is, the spouse who earns less may have a right to be maintained at an approximately equal standard of living as the higher-earning spouse. The degree to which non-compensatory principles will apply will depend on the means and needs of the spouses, the nature of the marital and its duration.
  2. Compensation – Also known as “compensatory” entitlement. Compensatory entitlement will arise where, as a result of the parties’ roles during the marriage, one spouse has suffered economic disadvantage or has conferred economic advantages on the other. Most often, such entitlement will arise where one spouse has sacrificed career opportunities in order to take on more of the family’s household or child-rearing responsibilities. Upon the dissolution of the spousal relationship, the spouse who has given up opportunities may be entitled to spousal support, either to compensate for diminished earning capacity or to share in the augmented earning capacity of the other spouse. The main goal of compensatory spousal support is to provide for an equitable sharing of the economic consequences of the marriage.
  3. Contract – This is present when there is an agreement between the spouses that one will pay support to the other.
  • The amount of spousal support that will be paid will depend on the strength of the entitlement of a spouse, the spouses’ incomes and the parenting arrangements of the spouses’ child or children.
  • The length of time that spousal support will be paid will depend on the length of the spousal relationship and the ages of the child or children if any.​

How will Spouses’ Incomes be Determined?

  • A spouse’s personal tax return income may not be the income that is used for the calculation of spousal support, and thus it is very important to obtain legal advice on the issue of income determination. For example:

​1. a spouse may have income imputed to them if they are not working as much as they should be; or​

2. a spouse may have income attributed to them if they have access to income that does not show up on their personal tax return. This is often the case where a spouse controls a company and may therefore be “hiding” income in the company or paying personal expenses with company money.

  • The spousal support analysis is complex and is usually the most difficult issue to resolve in a family law case. It is therefore very important to obtain legal advice on what your rights and obligations are with respect to spousal support before you make an agreement.

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