During
a marriage, spouses usually share their love, their time and their
income. They both invest in their life together. But unlike an investment
with a bank that pays a given amount of interest, an investment in
a life together is difficult to add up and then divide.
Both spouses' contributions to a marraige all have value. There are
multiple things to consider when determining spousal support.
For example, you may have worked and paid all the bills. Maybe you worked while
your spouse trained to get a better job. Or you may have helped in your spouse's
business. Often, a spouse gives up a job so that he or she can stay home, manage
the household, and care for the children. The Divorce Act sets out
factors and goals to be considered when figuring out if one spouse should pay
another spouse financial support
after a divorce. Among these factors are answers to the following questions.
| · |
How
long did you live together? |
| · |
What
was your role in the marriage? |
| · |
Who
is living with the children? |
| · |
The
amount of spousal support to be paid depends on the needs of
each spouse and on their income and resources. |
Other
things are also important. The law sets several goals to keep in mind.
| · |
Spousal
support should give value to the contributions made during
the marriage. If one spouse has benefited financially from
a contribution, the other spouse should be compensated. |
| · |
Another
goal is to make sure that after a marriage is over, one spouse
doesn't suffer economic hardship. |
| · |
A
third goal is to make sure that the spouse who lives with the
children is not at a financial disadvantage because of that. |
| · |
Finally,
spousal support should help each spouse become economically
independent within a reasonable amount of time, if possible. |
A
judge can order one spouse to pay spousal support to the other for
a particular amount of time or indefinitely.
Does it matter whose fault it is that the marriage is over?
The reasons your marriage is over have nothing to do with your financial obligations
to each other after a divorce. The divorce law says clearly that the court
will not consider the behaviour or misconduct of either spouse in deciding
on support payments. Fault is not taken into account.
At Russell
Alexander, Family Lawyers our focus is exclusively family law. To find
out more about our services, we invite you to contact
us or call the firm at 1.866.647.6335 |
