Posts Tagged ‘spousal support’
After She Leaves: Spousal Support
The content in this post is adapted from our recently updated After She Leaves Resource Manual. Click here to learn more about the manual. Spousal support is money that is paid by one spouse to the other after the end of the relationship. Spouse is defined to include both married and common-law relationships. A person is a…
Read moreRecent case: When to impute income
Lavie v. Lavie, 2018 ONCA 10: The appellant father appealed a 2015 trial decision, raising more than 20 grounds, including the trial judge’s imputation of income to him but not to the respondent mother. The parties began living together in 1998, married in 2000 and separated in 2009. They have two teenage children. Following separation,…
Read moreHow does the Family Responsibility Office work? For women’s advocates
The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is a program of the Ministry of Community and Social Services that collects and distributes court-ordered child and spousal support payments. If the person paying support fails to do so, FRO can enforce the court order in a number of ways. Its authority flows from the Family Responsibility and Support…
Read moreCase law: Property division and spousal support
Halliwell v. Halliwell, 2017 CarswellOnt 6391, 2017 ONCA 349 (Ont. C.A.), varying 2016 CarswellOnt 108, 2016 ONSC 182 (Ont. S.C.J.). The parties in this case were married for 32 years, during which time they were involved in several successful businesses. After they separated, the husband started new businesses and purchased numerous rental properties. They were…
Read moreHow can I support a woman who needs help from the Family Responsibility Office?
The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is a program of the Ministry of Community and Social Services that collects and distributes court-ordered child and spousal support payments. If the person paying support fails to do so, FRO can enforce the court order in a number of ways. Its authority flows from the Family Responsibility and Support…
Read moreCase law: Equalization, spousal support and costs
Berta v. Berta 2017 ONCA 874: The parties were married for 27 years, from 1982 to 2010. They had no children. They owned equal shares of a business created by the husband during the marriage. When they separated in March 2010, there were two principal assets: the matrimonial home and the shares in the business. The…
Read moreCase law: Variation of spousal support
Black v Black 2015 CarswellNB 449: This is a Court of Appeal decision from New Brunswick, involving a marriage of just over 8 years, with no prior cohabitation and no children. The Court of Appeal characterized it as a short-term non-traditional marriage for the purposes of assessing spousal support. In the separation agreement negotiated by…
Read moreDo I qualify for spousal support?
This is the third in a 3-part series on women’s financial rights and responsibilities when a relationship ends. Part 1 looked at property division and Part 2 covered determining the date of separation. Whether you are married or living common-law with your partner, you may qualify to receive spousal support or you may be required…
Read moreWhat are the time limitations on applying for spousal support or a division of family property?
UPDATED (from April 2015): Women who leave abusive relationships are often reluctant to pursue their financial rights. There are many reasons for this. Some women don’t know they may have a right to share in the family property or to receive support from their spouse. Others feel overwhelmed with the separation process, and sorting out…
Read moreHow can a woman get current tax information from her former spouse?
A common legal bullying tactic of abusive men is to slow down family court proceedings by failing to file documents in a timely manner or by filing incomplete documents. Nowhere is this more common than with the filing of Financial Statements, which are required whenever there is a claim for support (child or spousal) or…
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