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  • divorce severed from corollary relief

    Please help me understand what the above terms mean. Here's my situation. My son has turned 18, however has a diagnosed, documented learning disability, which effects his cognition, decision-making skills, and ability to keep a job, or attend school full time.

    He has about 20 credits to earn for his high school diploma. All the above barriers are legitimate. Now, here's the cruncher. My ex refuses to pay any more support, and MEP refuses to collect any more. I have provided them with the assessment done by a psychologist, but MEP states it is too old, (was done about 7 years ago) and that I need a current one. No problem, but they cost $2500!! I am not working and on disability. Can I now seek spousal support under this order?

    Can I go back to court and amend the order for child support to continue due to my son's disability? Thanks for any information.

  • #2
    It basically means you want to proceed with a divorce first and leave open the possibility for corollary issues. The term "corollary" is used in divorce and family law to refer to spousal and child support.


    Given the issues that face your son, I believe that you do indeed have the option to revisit the issue of support, IE having it continue.
    Although he has reached the age of majority, he is still under your care and has not complete high school therefore falls under the rules allowing for continued support for adult children of a marriage.

    Do a site search for this term and you will find other threads of useful information on corollary relief

    Comment


    • #3
      really appreciate your quick response...can I also now seek spousal support despite the fact the divorce was in 2001? Anyone else have experience with this? Also I did a search for "corollary" but nothing else came up.

      Thanks again for any input from all.

      Comment


      • #4
        When I search corollary 34 threads come up. Don't do a 'Just title' search. Sometimes the info isn't in the title, rather in the body of the thread.

        As FL stated I can't see why you would not be entitled to continued child support. Your son is still in your care and has not yet completed high school.

        Is he going to go back to finish up his credits? Even if he is only taking one course per semester, his Father would have no choice.

        I would recommend putting forth a motion with the courts regarding child support.

        In terms of spousal support, I would highly doubt you would be entitled. you have been divorced since 2001 and have survived without it, so I don't see how any judge would award you this.

        If you are receiving child support then why would you need additional spousal anyway? That's what you've been living on all thesse years.

        Lastly, you knew that child support would eventually run out (not this early), so how were you planning on becoming self supporting once child support ends. Honestly, you probably will only get child support until your son moves out or completes high school (doesn't sound like he'll attend post-secondary?!)...so a few more years. What is your plan after that?

        Comment


        • #5
          Check out this case. The link provides you with a summary:

          http://blog.andrewfeldstein.com/?cat=20

          Canlli.org can provide you with the full case.

          The above case regards a teenager that the Mother claimed could not go to school fulltime due to emotional/behavioral problems. The Father disputed this claim and wanted testing.

          The judge didn't see the value in continuing the teenager's emotional distress by requiring medical testing and therefore deemed the teen still a 'child of the marriage' and contiued the support for him.

          I don't know for how long you would be able to get child support, but I'm confident that you will be able to continue it.

          Comment


          • #6
            thank you for your feedback. Really great information to have. To answer some of your questions, I had been working but am now ill, and barely making it on a small medical disability.

            Secondly, questioning how I would support myself after child support was not an issue, because I was fully independent until now due to my own illness, and also, I did not think I would run into these challenges with my son!

            Again, thank you for your feedback.

            cheers

            Comment


            • #7
              How long were you married for and what is the difference of income?

              Comment


              • #8
                very appreciative of the variety of information coming in. I never dreamt I would be having this battle with my ex-spouse. While he is a good father, he seems to be resilient to monetary obligations. I offer this statement with the full and non-judgmental understanding that these types of challenges are definititely not "gender specific".

                Comment


                • #9
                  we were common law for 8 years, then married for 16 years. I have 2 children from the marriage, but only seeked child support for our son who was 8 at the time,because our daughter was 18. Unfortunately, I didn't seek spousal support as I was going to university on a student loan, and did not believe (and still do not) that one should be spiteful when it comes to support agreements, if the person is self-sufficient. However, now, I am ill and on a disability, and wish there were some way I could change things, until I get back on my feet again.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Oh and the difference of income is monumental. He is a licensed tradesman working in Fort Mcmurray, while I was working as a social worker for a non-profit agency. Oh well, I believe things work out, and that every experience is meant for a reason. Don't get me wrong, I still need some advice so I can pursue this in a legal, amicable manner!!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      this link is so very useful. Much appreciated....cheers

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Okay, so I found the following info. As stated below, you can petition a court for a variance or material change for spousal support. It might be nice if you indicated you are requesting time limited, as it will lend you credibility and show that you have intentions of returning to the workforce. Whether you get it or not will depend on how you position your case.


                        "The term "alimony" is rarely used in Canada. Payments are usually described as "spousal support" and "child support", which are quite distinct from one another. While divorce is a federal matter, family court is a provincial responsibility.

                        Any individual can ask the court for a ruling on spousal and/or child support *at any time*. There is no time period in which this must occur or after which it cannot occur. A person can petition the court for a variation on an existing order or agreement at any time.

                        Asking the court for an interim support or custody order should be done as soon as possible after the separation. An interim order is usually granted, pending a final agreement between the parties or another court order. Your motion for divorce should have included the terms of settlement, which would include any child support you or your spouse are required to pay. Spousal support may or may not be ordered at the same time.

                        Adults are expected to support themselves, unless there is a very good reason they should need financial support (e.g., older person with no income other than their spouse's, a disabled person who cannot work). An interim court order may or may not include spousal support, depending on the circumstances. It may order interim support if your spouse is not working, but is able to do so. Interim support may terminate or be reduced when the recipient obtains a suitable job or after a specific period of time has elapsed.

                        Family court will always order child support if you have any children, unless they are adults and self-sufficient. The court usually bases child support payments on an established formula or uses generally-accepted guidelines within the province (not all provinces have established support formulas) and the non-custodial parent's income."</SPAN itxtvisited="1">

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          My lawyer wouldn't allow me to separate corollary relief from the divorce. I wanted a divorce asap and to keep hammering away at corollary relief.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            You state "amend the order". Does your child support order end at age 18? If not, it would be up to your ex to amend the order, not you. Your ex-spouse has the obligation to provide support to your child under s. 2(1) of the Divorce Act, which acknowledges that he must continue to provide support to a child over the age of majority but unable, by reason of illness, disability, or other cause, to withdraw from their charge.

                            You need to be concerned about the child support, not requesting corollary relief.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I am almost certain that separating a Divorce from the Corollary Issues is a tactic used by lawyers when they want to diminish the impact of the Divorce Act, specifically s. 16, on decisions such as Child Custody and Access.

                              My EX's lawyer had another lawyer from her firm send me (via email) the forms and Consent Order to sign agreeing to separate the Divorce from the Corollary Issues (Child Custody and Access, Child Support and Child Support Arrears).

                              Aside: I believe she had another person send it, and chose not to send it herself, because she wanted to reduce or eliminate any chance that I would automatically refuse to consent based on the predictable/expected behaviour of many in similar situations who will not agree to any such request directly from the other party, especially one that has unclear or unknown repercussions. However, I have made great advances in suppressing any default emotional response and have made a conscious effort to make decisions based on fact, and information obtained that allow me to act in a manner that I believe is in the best interests of my children.

                              Anyway, here is my actual response:


                              Dear XXXXXX

                              It is my understanding that a Court will not grant a divorce unless they are satisfied that proper arrangements have been made for the care and support of the children. I submit, proper arrangements for the care and support of the children still needs to be negotiated or decided.

                              I am not opposed to a divorce, but the care and support of my children is of infinitely more importance than a divorce.

                              Thank you,
                              XXXXXX



                              I then received the following email directly from my EX's lawyer:


                              Mr. XXXXXX

                              Your assertion is incorrect and I point you to section 11 of the Divorce Act which outlines the bars for Divorce. I am hopeful upon reading this section you will reconsider your position and sign the consent forwarded to you.

                              XXXXXX



                              I had previously read s. 11 of the Divorce Act including the bars for Divorce. I read them again to see if I had missed something that would indicate I was incorrect. I could not find anything.

                              Perhaps I'm off my rocker with regards to this exchange, but I had a sense that it was somewhat significant then and I still feel this way.

                              If anyone has any information that would point to me being correct, on the right track, off my rocker, suffering from APP (Adversarial Process Paranoia...I'm pretty sure i made that up so you may not want to rely on it lol), or simply incorrect then it would be greatly appreciated!

                              Thank you!!!


                              In the interest of full disclosure I did respond to the email sent directly from my EX's lawyer. Here's is my response:

                              Dear XXXXXX,

                              Am I to assume that your emailed request to me from Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 3:59 PM where you asked, "that all future correspondence not be sent through my email but through the mail" is no longer your wish?

                              Please clarify.

                              Yours very truly,
                              XXXXXX


                              There was no other exchange.
                              Last edited by FamilyBlah; 07-10-2012, 01:58 PM. Reason: full disclosure

                              Comment

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