Getting Divorced? Things You Should Keep in Mind Regarding Spousal Support

Spousal support refers to a quantity of money one spouse pays to the other spouse after getting separated or divorced. It can be paid one time only in a one-off sum or periodically, typically monthly but infrequently weekly or at other times. In the States it is frequently referred to as alimony but that word is never used when speaking of divorced couples in Canada.

The matter of spousal support has become more litigious than ever in Canada as a consequence of a recent declaration of the Supreme Court of Canada. For a number of years, it was the law the purported misbehavior of one or both spouses wasn't something that ought be taken into account when concluding how much, if any, support would be provided by one to the other spouse. However, in the Laskun case, a divorced woman's capability to make satisfactory revenue to support herself was lessened because of her anger toward her husband over the affair which had led to the disintegration of their marriage. The court resolved that the effects of the man's behavior on the wife's capability to support herself should be taken into account when determining the amount of spousal support.

It is important to note that this does not mean that one divorced spouse will receive more money from the other because of the other's misbehavior per se. Only if that misbehavior had some adverse effect on the first spouse's ability to support him or herself will the behavior be considered. But even this has opened the floodgates to a great deal of additional litigation between divorced or divorcing couples on the subject of spousal support.

Prior to this determination, steps had been made to reduce the amount of litigation between divorced spouses over spousal support. Spousal support rules have been printed by the federal government. Although these are not compulsory, they were being used as a benchmark, helping spouses and their counsels to achieve out of court agreements and even permitting judges to use them as a basis for their judgments While still useful, these rules can only now be applied after thinking about the effect of bad behavior.

In general, the most important considerations entrenched by the Canada Divorce Act in deciding the amount of spousal support are: the need to compensate a partner for economic hardships suffered as a consequence of the marriage; the need to relieve any economic hardship resulting from from the end of the marriage; and the need to promote self-sufficiency within a fair period of time. None of these takes concern over the other. These are some sample of how these considerations may be applied.

Example: a couple who had a traditional relatonshipmarriage get divorced. She had stopped working to keep the home and care for the youngsters while he continued to develop his career. After twenty years they divorce. Obviously her capability to earn her own earnings has suffered as a consequence of the task she had in the marriage and her present fiscal circumstances might be alarming. But if he has to pay enough ongoing monthly spousal support to meet all her financial requirements it would do nothing to encourage her self-reliance over a reasonable time. However, relying on her history it may be impractical to imagine her capable of ever becoming self-sufficient. If she was intelligent, had a diploma or valuable experience before the marriage, and was still relatively young, perhaps a bit additional short term support will allow her to supplement her training and get back to the workforce.

Example: a couple with no kids get divorced after 5 years together. They each maintained their respective careers and earn enough to meet their respective needs. In this case there is probably no need for either to pay spousal support to the other once they are divorced.

Sometimes an unequal division of matrimonial property or responsibility for debt is agreed upon between the couple getting divorced instead of spousal support. The advantage in this is that it provides a clean break between the spouses who probably desire to minimize their future involvement with one another. However, that clean break can also prevent a spouse who would have received periodic spousal support from seeking an increase due to some disadvantage suffered due to the relationship which only surfaces later - such as a latent health issue rendering him or her unable to work.

Common-law couples cannot get divorced and so the federal Divorce Act does not apply to them. However, similar principles are found under provincial legislation which are used in determining support between separating common-law couples.

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