spousal support and shared custody

[Foredeck]

I've done a search and couldn't find an accurate answer to a little problem I'm having.

We're negotiating the separation agreement, and I just found out that she wants SS.

Just a quick recap, I make 70% of our combined salary, she makes 30%. I offered to bring it up to 42% through CS.

We have shared custody.

I just read the new SS guidelines and it states that judges usually bring it up to 50/50 as far as disposable income goes.

She shares a house, I live alone. And, my car payment is slightly higher. I pay about 500$ more per month for housing since it's a little bigger and I am living alone. I'm guessing that I pay about 100$ more for car, mostly due to insurance.

I'm guessing that after we add up the CS, government benefits, special expenses. And, then if we add up our basic expenses (housing, car and food) that we'll be roughly even.

However, are these added usually? All of our amounts are reasonable, and I could prove this.

Also, how long would they keep it 50/50? We were married for 3.5 years. She is fairly self sufficient, since her net disposable income is similar to mine.

And, she did not suffer because of the marriage. She has a much better job now then she had before, and she never supported me in my studies or to advance my career.

[Foredeck]

One final thing, I am reading "Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines: A User's Guide to the Final Version" from University of Toronto - Faculty of Law: Faculty Pages

And, the final point is "The Recipient's remarriage or repartnering". How much weight does this have?

She moved out of my house and with her current partner. The new partner did not increase her standard of living substantially, however, it has allowed her to split expenses and therefore have more disposable income.

[billiechic]

If you were only married for 3.5 years then I can't see you having to pay for more than 2 years, espcially if she is self-sufficient. Have you sent her a copy of the SS guidelines?

[Foredeck]

No, I have not. SS was never discussed. She actually promised at first not to go for SS, she said she did not want to do that. So, I had assumed that she wouldn;t.

I don't want to send the guidelines, since it's like 150 pages long. But, I might show her the 20 page user guide.

And, the guidelines are so vague, especially when CS is involved. They say it can be from 40 to 46%, or it could be up to 50% or it could even not be applicable, or it could be totally up to the judge. Depending if it's sunny on that day or if anyone cut off the judge on the way to work.

[Foredeck]

She's arguing that she's not self sufficient.

I guess the lawyer did the math and it was between 550 and 750$ for spousal support for an undetermined amount of time.

I did the math quickly for her, and proved that she gets 44% of the time, and with the 550$ per month, she'd be significantly over my salary. She still sees no issue with this, which might cause some issues, depending on what her lawyer says.