Divorced Couples: Things You Need to Know About the Question of 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 issue of spousal support has become more contentious than ever in Canada as a result of a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. For many years. It was the law that the alleged misbehavior of one or both spouses was not something that should be taken into account when determining how much, if any, support would be paid by one to the other. However, in the Laskun case, a divorced woman’s ability to earn enough income to support herself was reduced because of her anger toward her husband over the affair which had led to the breakdown of their relationship. The court determined that the effect of the husband’s behavior on the wife’s ability to support herself was to be taken into account when determining the level 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 decision, steps have been taken to reduce the amount of litigation between divorced spouses over spousal support. Spousal support guidelines have been published by the federal government. Although these are not mandatory, they were being used as a benchmark, enabling spouses and their lawyers to reach out of court agreements and even allowing judges to use them as a basis for their decisions. While still useful, these guidelines can only now be applied after considering the impact of bad behavior.
In general, the most vital issues entrenched by the Canada Divorce Act in deciding the amount of spousal support are: the necessity to compensate a spouse for economic hardships suffered as a consequence of the marriage ; the necessity to relieve any economic trouble caused by from the end of the marriage ; and the necessity to promote self-sufficiency inside a fair period of time. None of these takes priority over the other. Here are some illustrations of how these points to consider might be applied.
Example: a pair who had a traditional relatonshipmarriage get divorced. She had ceased working to keep the home and care for the youngsters while he continued to follow his career. After twenty years they divorce. Clearly her capability to make her own revenue has suffered as a consequence of the job she had in the marriage and her present fiscal circumstances may be dismal. But if he must pay enough permanent monthly spousal support to meet all her financial requirements it might do nothing to promote her self-reliance over a reasonable time. But, relying on her background it may be unrealistic to imagine her able to ever become self-sufficient. If she was intelligent, had a diploma or valuable experience before the marriage, and was still comparatively young, maybe a little extra short-term support is going to enable her to supplement her training and get back into 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 can’t apply to them. However, similar guidelines are found under provincial legislation which are used in determining support between common-law couples who separate.
