Entitlement to Spousal Support

The courts have held that an Applicant for spousal support, must demonstrate the following in order to qualify for interim (ie. temporary support): (more…)

How to Prepare for your Separation/Divorce

In some of our cases, the parties separation has been “brewing” for quite some time.  One or both parties may think about separating from their spouse, but they do not approach a lawyer.   He/she may be preparing emotionally and financially to separate from his/her spouse.  In other cases, a spouse may be surprised to learn that his/her spouse wants to separate.  It comes as a...

Insurance for Child Support

When there are children of the relationship, or a spousal support obligation, it is important to have a provision in any separation agreement dealing with life insurance. These provisions serve as security for child support/spousal support in the event that the support payor dies while the dependent is entitled to child/spousal support. (more…)

Child Support – Disabled Child

Section 31 of the Family Law Act states that “Every parent has an obligation to provide support for his or her unmarried child who is a minor or is enrolled in a full time program of education, to the extent that the parent is capable of doing so.  The support obligation does not extend to a child who is 16 yrs of age or older and has withdrawn from parental control”. (more…)

Child Support – Adult Children

Adult Children (ie. over the age of 18 yrs) are only entitled to child support if they are dependents as defined by the Divorce Act and the Family Law Act.  An adult child is entitled to child support if he/she is “enrolled in a full time program of education”.   Various court decisions have held that it is not sufficient for the adult child to simply be enrolled in school on a...

Section 16 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines – Calculation of Income for Support Purposes

This section provides that in determining a person’s income for child support purposes, you must look at the total income until line 150 in a person’s Income Tax Return and adjust the income as required by Schedule III to the Guidelines. (more…)

Section 10 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines – Undue Hardship

This section of the Guidelines provides that a court may “award an amount that is different from the amount determined under the Guidelines, if the court finds that the spouse making the request, or a child in respect of whom the request is made, would otherwise suffer undue hardship”.   Although the Guidelines does not specifically define “undue hardship”, the court...

Section 9 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines – Shared Custody

This section addresses the situation when a spouse “exercises a right of access to, or has physical custody of, a child for not less than 40% of the time over the course of a year”. (more…)

Section 8 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines – Split Custody

Split custody is when each parent has custody of one or more of the children.  The Act provides that the “amount of a child support order is the difference between the amount that each spouse would otherwise pay if a child support order was sought against each of the spouses”. (more…)

Section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines – Special or Extraordinary Expenses

This section provides for the payor to pay additional monies to the recipient, over and above base child support, to “cover all or any portion” of the “special or extraordinary expenses” for the child.  The preamble of section provides that the expenses may be “estimated”. However, it is my experience that if you are seeking contribution for past...