How Does Spousal Support Work In Canada

Getting a divorce can be an incredibly messy situation unless you and your spouse have come to a mutual understanding. While going through the process, you may have to decide many things along the way. One of them is spousal suppose, alimony, or spousal maintenance.

Whether you are talking to your spouse with family lawyers on both sides, going to mediation, or settling it in court, you need to understand how spousal support works in Canada and then decide how to handle this.

Now, let's get into how spousal support works.

The Basics of Spousal Support

The relationship between spouses is a partnership in every way, even economical. That is why the spouse making a higher income might have to financially support the other for a period. However, the basic understanding is that the financial support is to keep the spouse who earns less afloat. Whether the other spouse is earning less or none at all, they will have an obligation to become self-sufficient over time.

Factors That Determine Spousal Support

The government provides a set of guidelines that can help determine the range of spousal support. But before calculating the precise amounts, you will need to figure out whether there is any entitlement to spousal support.

To determine whether or not a person is entitled to receive spousal support, many factors need to be considered. While your family lawyer can accurately guide you on this, here are a few factors you should know about:

Duration of the marriage
What roles did the spouses play throughout the marriage
Your and your spouse's age during the time of separation
The care of the kids
The capacity of a spouse to support the other
Can the recipient spouse become self-sufficient

Whether you are seeking spousal support or thinking that you no longer have to pay it, you can go to an experienced family lawyer for help.

It would help if you remembered that Canada has a no-fault divorce law. That means the reasons why your marriage ended doesn't affect the other spouse's legal obligation to provide spousal support

Effects of Child Support on Spousal Support

If either one of the former partners is already giving money for child support, then the court might take that into account. They would see if that spouse's ability to continue child support payments will be affected if they started to pay for spousal support as well.

Your lawyer can tell you that the Divorce Act states that any court in Canada will give more importance to child support when any person applies for spousal support as well as child support.

Answer to Some Common Spousal Support Questions

What Are The Legal Grounds For Getting Spousal Support?

The legal obligations for a spouse to provide spousal support to the other after separation is not something that comes up simply because both of them were formally married or had a relationship under common law.

If one of the spouses claims entitlement to spousal support, then they must prove it. That is why family attorneys are vital for these cases.

Does A Spouse's Behavior Affect Spousal Support?

The entitlement of a person to receive spousal support is not dependent on one of the spouse's behavior either before or after separation. The same goes for morality or ethical conduct.

It means that when a spouse is entitled to spousal support after marriage, their entitlement will not be dissolved even if they were violent, had affairs during the marriage, or something else. They will still be entitled if they can meet the requirements and present the proof in court.