How Does Spousal Support Work?
- Spousal support occurs when a couple gets a divorce, and one spouse is financially responsible for the other. A common law relationship or a marriage that fails can claim to have spousal support. You do not need to have children to claim spousal support, and either spouse is able to apply. However, if you are not married or in a common law relationship, you can claim spousal support only if you have lived with your partner for 2 years before the separation and if the claim for support is made within a year after you separated.
- To get spousal support, a couple can go to either the Supreme Court or the Provincial Court. Spouses need to sign a separation agreement, however if they cannot come to an agreement, the court can decide for them. The court will usually make the spouse that financially supported the other in the relationship be the one that supports the spouse after the divorce. A court can limit the amount of time the spouse gets support so that he or she will have initiative to make money. However, if neither spouse was the financial supporter, and both had their own incomes, neither will have to pay financial support to the other.
- A court decides that spousal support should be issued by looking at several important factors regarding the relationship and the separation. Some factors would include: how long the relationship lasted, the roles each spouse played in the relationship, if there are any financial consequences that would affect the children in the marriage, the financial outcome of both spouses when they were in the relationship and after the separation, and if each spouse will be able to support him/herself after the separation.
- A person will not be denied spousal support if he or she had an affair during the relationship or if the spouse was abusive to the other. The court feels that a relationship that ends is not usually the fault of just one person. The court tries to ensure that both spouses live their lives with the same financial outcome that they did when they were married or living together. There are Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, that will provide the court calculations of how long the spousal support will be provided and how much will be paid to the spouse, depending on the financial history of each spouse.
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