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  • Rent assignment.

    I am living in matrimonial home. Stbx is living in apartment. I attempted to sell this home right from the git go. In fact had to threaten to go to court and recover legal costs to get her to sell it. Took about 2 months. Now it is up for sale during a bad time of year and showings have dropped to zero with no offers. My attitude now is fine I have a cheap place to stay and spring market is coming.

    Is it actually a cheap place? Since she is having to pay rent will they somehow assign a rent to me for where I am living in the equalization payment?
    Last edited by Craigerst; 12-07-2014, 11:21 AM.

  • #2
    Good morning

    Your wife's rent and living expenses will be calculated into retroactive and ongoing spousal support (from date of separation) going forward.

    You supported her for 30 years and will likely be paying for the rest of your life.

    Equalization is the calculation/split of your assets. Equalization and Spousal Suport are two separate calculations.

    It is quite normal for the two of you to submit budgets to each other as part of the process in determining Spousal Support.

    So yes, you will be paying her rent, utilities, clothing, hair, transportation and numerous other living expenses.

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    • #3
      That is not really what I asked.

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      • #4
        Ask your lawyer to explain it to you then.

        Don't get equalization mixed up with spousal support.

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        • #5
          Maybe if I put my question another way. Since I am living mortgage free and no rent and she is paying rent will I get penalized and assigned a dollar figure somewhere for the period I am in home and it does not sell?

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          • #6
            I think what you are asking is will you be charged occupational rent. That is you paying the fair market rent of a comparable place.

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            • #7
              If you have moved out of the house, then invite her to move back in. Then it's by choice that she is incurring extra rent. As are you.

              She's have to ask for occupational rent, and since she moved out by choice, and is not contributing to any of the bills (property tax, maintenance, insurance) I don't think it's likely.

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              • #8
                Think of it this way: you and your ex together own the matrimonial home. However, you are the only one occupying it. So you are both an owner and an occupant, but your ex is only an owner. Occupants should compensate owners for the use of their premises (mortgage, taxes, etc), in the form of rent. So you (as the occupant) owe yourself and your ex (as the owners) rent for the matrimonial home. How much the rent should be depends on what the going rate is for similar properties. You and your ex (as co-owners) should each receive half the occupational rent from you as the occupant.

                Long story short, take a look at what similar properties in your area are renting for, and use half of that figure as the ballpark for what you owe your ex per month, in compensation for your exclusive use of property which belongs to both of you. This occupational rent will likely be deducted from your share of the value of the property once it is sold.

                So it's probably in your interests to get the property sold as soon as possible. If you wait until a good time of year, you might get more money for the property, but your occupational rent will keep ticking until you dispose of the property and equalize your assets.

                In answer to your original question - no, you don't currently have a cheap place to live; you just haven't paid the rent yet.

                Of course, I am neither a lawyer nor a real estate expert and could be completely wrong on this.

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                • #9
                  I understand what your saying I think.

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                  • #10
                    There are no children of the marriage so your situation would be two fold: a) Equalization and 2) Spousal Support. You should probably learn to keep the two separate and read up on cases on CanLii regarding long-term traditional marriages.

                    What your wife is spending right now to live can very well set the path for future spousal support. IT is rarely a good idea to put off the spousal support calculation as typically expenses will increase rather than decrease. The use of budgets is common in determining spousal support as it is recognized that there is a finite amount of income.

                    What does your ex live on now? Credit card cash advances?

                    Assets (including cash, investments) are essentially tallied up as of date of separation. Same with liabilities.

                    If your ex shows a pattern of spending 6,000.00/month (or whatever the amount is) then she will negotiate Interim Spousal Support for that amount. I think you would be in a better place financially to agree on an amount with her asap. That 2,000.00/month condo she is renting might be traded up for a 2,500.00/month condo and so on. If one or both of you raided the bank account at time of separation then this will be accounted for. If you are ordered (or agree) to pay spousal support and you fail to do so then your wife can get an Order to take this amount out at time of equalization. It is not automatic. If one of you is draining the assets then an Order can be obtained to essentially freeze bank accounts (I assume you have already done this - perhaps mutually?).

                    I believe you indicated you have spoken to a number of lawyers (as you had indicated on past posts that you and your wife own a prosperous small business). Have you closed any joint bank accounts? Did you not receive any advice on negotiating an interim order for spousal support? How is your wife managing to pay her bills? I ask this because you indicated you have supported her for 30 years.

                    Yes when its all said and done you can try to claim occupational rent. However, always remember that spousal support is negotiable and decided on a case-by-case basis. Equalization is the calculation of assets/liabilities and the division. As you are at the age where you want to preserve wealth in terms of looking towards retirement you should put a stop to the blank cheque mentality (if it exists) and work together on a realistic monthly budget. What you pay in spousal support you get 100% tax relief on/your wife has to pay tax on what she receives. This is another reason you would want to have things under spousal support rather than tucking it into equalization. IF your lawyer hasn't pointed that out to you then you need another lawyer.

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                    • #11
                      It is simple how my wife is supporting herself as explained before. She left with 50k and danced on the credit cards. I am not worried about how she is living. Period.
                      Whoever said I was ordered and refused to pay spousal support? I am afraid it is more complicated than you simplify it to Arabian. This week I deal with an accountant specializing in SS (lawyer had a fancier name for him) as it pertains to me. How much SS AND how it is to be paid is a whole new complicated topic.

                      At any rate the topic was about assigning rent and I have some interesting input into it.
                      Last edited by Craigerst; 12-07-2014, 06:11 PM.

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                      • #12
                        50k won't last long if she's paying rent and living large. Trick is make sure whatever she is spending is designated to Spousal Support so you can get the tax benefit. I believe CRA requires a court order for this. If you're going to a tax specialist then he should be able to give you some excellent advice - better than you will get on this forum as it will be up-to-date with current legislation.

                        Many people divorcing after long term marriages simply cannot afford to maintain 2 homes and find themselves having to live together until after everything is settled. Often both parties end up adjusting their standard of living, particularly if there is only one source of income. No one is a winner.

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                        • #13
                          I no longer think she is living large. She has started to realize how much it costs without me filling the bank. There is enough in the marriage that I expect we will both have downsized homes and 1 of us a cottage with a small mortgage. This only will come true if Sanity prevails. Unfortunately it sometimes does not.

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                          • #14
                            Hang in there. Often a 3rd party explaining things can dispel the cloudiness. For most of us mortals divorce is a very big lifestyle change. I know I took many things for granted. One being my ex's ability to look after the cars and icky jobs such as drains. He has told me on many occasions that he misses my cooking. Even though I was partner in our business and paid the bills etc, I still had a very difficult time managing on less money. I no longer golf at a private club and I do give power bills more than a cursory glance. I have to budget and plan - this is something I only did with company expenses as there was always plenty of money for our personal use. Big change.

                            If all the money (in and out) is on the table and fully disclosed then your ex will soon get the big picture - two households = double bills.

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