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Determining spousal support with cohabilitation

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  • Determining spousal support with cohabilitation

    After reading through several articles such as Federal Spousal Support Guidelines, I have come to accept that my ex-wife may be entitled based on the compensatory component given that we were married for about 15 years with disparate incomes. Now, I just need to figure out quantum as they call it and length of payment.

    So my questions are as follows:

    1. If we went our separate ways in 2015, what income year should be used to compute my spousal support obligations? 2014 or 2015?

    2. Let's assume when we separated we decided to use my 2014 annual income as we had a T4. Can I make a reasonable argument on using my base salary for that year instead of the amount on line 150 which includes bonuses? I have since changed employers and no longer get a bonus.

    3. Given the length of our marriage, I could end up paying her between the low or medium range of spousal for 7.5-15 years. She is common law today. Can I reasonably expect to still pay spousal for atleast 7.5 years with reduced quantum?

    4. She was intentionally unemployed throughout 2016 even though all three of our children are in school full time. Today, she still does not work as she is expecting a child with her new partner. Can I make a reasonable request to impute her incomes based on numbers from her previous years? Or how does her pregnancy, which has nothing to do with me, factor in here?

    5. Can I confirm that her generous monthly child tax benefits she receives today should be used when calculating my spousal support obligations?

  • #2
    Originally posted by e28makaveli View Post
    Today, she still does not work as she is expecting a child with her new partner. Can I make a reasonable request to impute her incomes based on numbers from her previous years? Or how does her pregnancy, which has nothing to do with me, factor in here?
    It is horrifyingly sexist, but women are often allowed by judges to not work due to creating new children with a new partner. You want to look for examples in the case law where fathers have new children and are imputed income. You won't find many new mothers being imputed anything.

    I would definitely try and impute income to her, but be aware that it isn't a trivial exercise.

    5. Can I confirm that her generous monthly child tax benefits she receives today should be used when calculating my spousal support obligations?
    Conversely, you are wrong on this one. You might think that the name of the tax benefit would give it away. But, in case it didn't, I'm going to let you know that "Child Tax Benefits" are used to help support children, and I have no idea why they would be relevant to spousal support in any way.

    Want a piece of that sweet child tax benefit pie? Become an actual parent. Share custody and you get to share the tax benefit!

    ...and it probably is good for the kids too.

    Comment


    • #3
      On question 5:

      Originally posted by Janus View Post
      Conversely, you are wrong on this one. You might think that the name of the tax benefit would give it away. But, in case it didn't, I'm going to let you know that "Child Tax Benefits" are used to help support children, and I have no idea why they would be relevant to spousal support in any way.
      I just read through the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines and it states the following in chapter 8:

      Government benefits and credits for children also affect these formulas, as public support for children and their caregivers serves to reduce the demand for spousal support for lower income parents.
      8(a) of this same guide also states:

      There are a collection of public benefits and credits intended to provide support to children and their caregivers. The with child support formulas include them as income, as is explained in section 6.3 of the SSAG. The computer software automatically calculates these amounts, so they should not be input manually. The amounts are adjusted annually or at intervals by governments, and those changes are picked up by the software.
      Section 6.4 of this same guide also states:

      Consistent with our treatment of the Child Tax Benefit under the with child support formula, the UCCB for a child who is a child of the marriage will also be included in the income of the custodial parent in determining spousal support.
      If I am understanding these excerpts, it looks like these tax benefits are included as part of the calculations for spousal support and this makes perfect sense. After all, it is income.

      Comment

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