??about support and Canada pension plans

[Mikesgal]

Hi, found this forum the other day and it is such a relief to find something here in Canada (I am from Ontario) that gives so much useful information for those of us searching for answers to questions...well here is my story: my husband has 3 children 1-17 year old and 1-soon to be 19 year old and 1-soon to be 11 year old..the 17 year old is not living with his mother or father, but living about 5 hours away with his maternal grandparents..long story behind this..anyways my husband has been paying child support, an amount his ex and him have agreed on--she wanted more however since he is not living under her roof my husband said she should be paying towards his upbringing as well so she is now quiet...anyways she has told us that she is sending 1/2 of the amount each month to her father for the support of her son...the other half is spent towards her gambling addiction...today we found out that this son has been suspended from school indefinately and wants to move out of the grandfathers home to live with a much older lady(10-11 years older) who has 3 small children..needless to say the mother is livid and told the son that now she won't be getting the support payments from my husband and she relies on that to pay HER bills...my husband wants his son to stay in school, however he knows that he has made up his mind and will likely not go back...he feels that he should not have to continue paying child support if his son is not in school anymore...he is going to let his ex have the total amount for the month of April and then find out for sure if his son is in school or not, then will stop payments on checks or continue them depending on what he finds out..does this sound reasonable and correct?? he shouldn't have to pay support if his son isn't in school anymore this is how we see it...
His soon to be 19 year old is not his biological daughter however he has been in her life since she was 4 and she calls him dad...this girl has never held a job and has no ambition at all...she lives under her mothers roof, or at least part-time she does and attends highschool to get 1 credit a semester to get her grade 12..she only takes 1 course and wants to stretch this out for as long as she can because as long as she is in school child support has to be paid...the mother says one minute that the support can stop in Sept but then she might decide to go onto college...what kind of financial support is my husband obligated to pay for this daughter who is most of the time living with her boyfriend (she has a promise ring from him as well)..she never calls her dad ever, I know this has nothing to do with it...her biological father has never paid a dime towards her upbringing and my husband and I feel his obligation should be just about done.....
ok 1 final question, thanks for being so patient with me...this same ex has been very greedy when it comes to splitting anything and would still like my hubby to give more than he already does...we were wondering if she is entitled to get any money from his company Canada pension plan...they have been divorced since 2001 and he is afraid she will still come after it...can she do that???? thanks a million for any advise over any of these issues and I look forward to hearing from anyone

[Jenny]

Oy what a situation- I don't know what I can say about most of it. But what does the separation agreement say about the pensions? I know my agreement notes what they are all work and how they were to be split. It was transferred out of his pension plan and will be into something I can access when I am of retirement age. What he earns into his plan and what I earn into mine will be separate from now on. What would have been earned before and after the marriage would have been considered off limits( in our cases it was all the same- we started careers and marriage around the same time) If it wasn't addressed at the time of separation and divorce then I don't know what could happen- it seems she couldn't get access to money he has earned after the divorce( there may be an actuary involved to determine what was what

Now CPP credits usually get split - one of the partners has to apply to have it split. again if it isn't in the agreement - nothingyou can really do for the time of the marriage.
http://www.sdc.gc.ca/en/isp/pub/fact...ditsplit.shtml

Hope that helps and others can help with further info

[Mikesgal]

thanks for the quick response Jenny...I think in the agreement that was made up by his ex it says that she will get 1/2 of his RRSP's which she already has been paid, and it also states that she agrees to not pursue any share of his retirement investments...is Canada pension considered retirement investments??..she also states that she shall remain the beneficary of the current life and accident insurance or of any additional insurance owned by him....what do you think of that???...I know he has already gone to his financial advisor and changed me to the beneficary

[Jenny]

Usually separation agreements have clauses for insurance when support is being paid. For instance I am getting support for XX amount of years and he is expected to carry life insurance for it. The support obligation survives death. So if he was to die*( God Forbid) the estate (you) would be responsible for paying the child or spousal support until the kids are out on their own.

It seems like weird phrasing- I would check the wording of the agreement. They CAN'T prevent him from getting additional insurance to cover his obligation of his children's support.

[Mikesgal]

Hi again Jenny, wow another quick response...my husbands ex had written up a separation agreement all on her own, I am wondering if this is legal and binding since no "big wig" witnessed it or signed it...they had a mutal friend witness it..she was the one who called all the shots as to how everything was going to looked after for the future of her and the kids...she stated in the agreement that she was going to get life insurance for the kids which she never did...and shouldn't the new wife, being me be the beneficiary of any life or accident insurance not the ex wife?

[Jenny]

Sounds like an interesting situation. Usually a homemade agreement can be binding. Depends on what is in there. Sometimes the way things are phrased aren't correct or open to interpretation. Like the CPP - from the website....

The credits that you and your partner earned during the time you lived together are combined and split equally when the relationship ends. As a result, the person with fewer credits - the lower earner - gets some of the credits earned by the other person - the higher earner.

Generally, a spousal agreement does not prevent a credit split. However, some agreements entered into before June 4, 1986, and some agreements in provinces that have a provincial law allowing couples to agree not to split CPP pension credits can do so. Currently Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia have such a law.

There are policies that are specifically tied to life insurance.(term and specialty products) Your hubby might want to look into that. Usually life insurance isn't tied to the estate. But I am not sure if it would be contested if you signed an agreement saying you wouldn't change the benenficiary. Plus you don't really want to be responsible for paying the kids support after he is gone anyway and a life insurance policy would save you from that mess. Basically you have to make provisions to dependants in both these agreements and your will. Or it makes a huge mess after you are gone.

Hope that helps