Advice Needed

[Degagn]

Hi everyone,

I've been browsing the forums here for a while now and am very impressed with the support and advice that members give each other.

Here's my situation, after living common-law for 9 years, my wife and I married in 2003. We separated on October 21, 2005. Much to my dismay, and not for a lack of repeated trying on my part, no agreement of any kind has been completed. Nor has there been any court orders such as "exclusive possession of the matrimonial home".

When it comes to the custody of the children and decisions regarding the children we have been able to be somewhat amicable. On the other issues such as property division, there has been no progress whatsoever. Her stance on those issues is that because I moved out of the house, I relinquished all rights to the home and possessions. I know this is not how the courts see it.

On October 21, 2005, I had no intention of leaving the home, however, since my bags were packed and put in the driveway, and my children (ages 7 and one) were at the house, I left to avoid engaging in any arguments with my wife in order to spare the children any emotional turmoil. There has never been any physical violence or anything of that nature.

My wife's employment income has generally always been more then my income (by about $ 20,000/year), as she is in a managment postion which also entails a full medical, etc. benefit package. Is alimony something I am entitiled to, or something I should be considering?

With respect to the matrimonial home, we purchased it September 2005, with the downpayment coming as a loan from her parents. Before moving out, we had only resided in the home for a month. The title of the home is in her name for a couple of reasons. Do I have any rights or entitlements with respect to the matrimonial home.

In a couple of weeks, when the one year date of the separation has been reached, one of us, will file the divorce application. I'm hoping to get some advice from this forum on the issues above before meeting with a lawyer.

Thank You

[logicalvelocity]

Degagn,

welcome to the forum

When it comes to the custody of the children and decisions regarding the children we have been able to be somewhat amicable.

This is good that you have been able to accomplish this. Keep in mind that at law you and your spouse have co-extensive custody of your children until an order from the court or a separation agreement delegates otherwise. However, due to the circumstances, a status quo living arrangement has occurred with the children in her primary care.

My wife's employment income has generally always been more then my income (by about $ 20,000/year), as she is in a management position which also entails a full medical, etc. benefit package. Is alimony something I am entitled to, or something I should be considering?

I suspect you may be entitled to spousal support, the main criteria being that you have need and your ex has means. 20K difference in income suggests this on the face of it. Be advised that a reasonable expense to you would be full dental medical package as it appears you had this coverage previously but it may now be severed at your spouses discretion.

With respect to the matrimonial home, we purchased it September 2005, with the down payment coming as a loan from her parents. Before moving out, we had only resided in the home for a month. The title of the home is in her name for a couple of reasons. Do I have any rights or entitlements with respect to the matrimonial home.

I suspect you might not be entitled as on the face of these reasons, a) the down payment loan came from her parents, b) you only had the home one month before separation and c) the home is in one spouses name only.

This suggests in itself that there may be very little equity in the home.
Did you cosign the loan for the down payment?

The other issues you never mentioned is child support and the children's access to you. If the children are spending more than 40% of their time with you then an offset child support should be paid. If the children are spending brief time with you, (under 40%) then you should be paying a tabled amount of child support to your former spouse for the children reflective of your line 150 income from your previous years income tax return , referenced against the child support guidelines. If you are paying this amount in a volunteer manner without a court order or separation agreement in place, this suggests that you are a child centered individual and hence a joint custodial regime is workable.



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