Please help - SS and financial disclosure

[Luna]

hi I'm Luna came to Canada 3 years ago from China. we got married in 2010 and have a son of 9 years old. when my ex moved out in October 2020, I was still a full-time student in a college. I had a part-time job of $20/h ($1,500/m), he was earning $120,000/y, he only paid me $1,037/m for child support cuz my son is living with me all the time. now I graduated and am earning $70,000/y. I think I missed my best chance to file a court application to get spousal support cuz I didn't get a good lawyer. I have changed lawyer 5 times, they either sent me bogus bills claiming hours they didn't work or dropped me cuz they don't do court. I'm not familiar with the law system here and I feel so hopeless all the time. I have a few questions, I'm grateful for any help you can give me.

1. Am I entitled to SS considering our income? his lawyer claimed since I'm self-sufficient, I'm not entitled SS.

2. who decides which items are ligit on the financial disclosure? for example, he claimed a $35,000 of tax for changing residence use from rental to principal residence. when do we know this claim is not valid? until to the court or during the conference before court?

3. Can I claim retroactive SS on financial disclosure? my current lawyer said no.

4. mostly importantly, please recommend a badass lawyer to me who is based in Ottawa.

Thank you so much!

[mafia007]

1. Am I entitled to SS considering our income? his lawyer claimed since I'm self-sufficient, I'm not entitled SS.

Correct, you are self-sufficient. With an income of 70K$ a year, you are not entitle.

2. who decides which items are ligit on the financial disclosure? for example, he claimed a $35,000 of tax for changing residence use from rental to principal residence. when do we know this claim is not valid? until to the court or during the conference before court?

YOU decides which items are ligit or not on the financial disclosure. If you are not comfortable with an item, you challenge and seek more info, details, explanation.

3. Can I claim retroactive SS on financial disclosure? my current lawyer said no.

No as you are not entitle. For retroactive SS when you were still a student? might be too late. Talk to a lawyer.

4. mostly importantly, please recommend a badass lawyer to me who is based in Ottawa.

PFFFFFFF! I can see the type of person you are. More open to fight than to settle. Are you friend with my EX?

[Luna]

First of all thank you for your reply. I initiated a few talks to him but he refused to meet me. I even told him I would give up SS and I want to get this divorce shit out of my life asap, he was still focusing on some minor details on my financial disclosure. you don't know how many bad lawyers are out there!!



PFFFFFFF! I can see the type of person you are. More open to fight than to settle. Are you friend with my EX? [/QUOTE]

[ifonlyihadknown]

1. Am I entitled to SS considering our income? his lawyer claimed since I'm self-sufficient, I'm not entitled SS.

It depends. Who paid for your education? Did you give up a high paying job in China to move to Canada? Did you sacrifice your career for the marriage?Are you worse off or better off due to the marriage dissolving?

SS can be justified based on need or based on sacrifices you made. A good lawyer should be able to tell you what your chances are in a first consultation.

2. who decides which items are ligit on the financial disclosure? for example, he claimed a $35,000 of tax for changing residence use from rental to principal residence. when do we know this claim is not valid? until to the court or during the conference before court?

My understanding is that financial disclosure is really just for a division of assets. Again, a good lawyer should be able to tell you if it is legitimate or not.

3. Can I claim retroactive SS on financial disclosure? my current lawyer said no.

You can try, but it makes reaching a settlement much harder.

4. mostly importantly, please recommend a badass lawyer to me who is based in Ottawa.

Before getting a "badass" lawyer, talk to your lawyer and find out what you are roughly entitled to.

If you are eligible for SS, it would be for roughly between 5 and 10 years based on the length of an 10 year marriage. Your salary difference is $50,000. You *could* get between $15K and $25K / year for a few years. Litigation can be incredibly expensive and could exceed any SS you could get.

Don't believe a word your ex's lawyer says. Assume that they are lying to you. What does your lawyer say? How much do they think you can get and what do they think your chances are? How much do they think it would cost to go to trial?

Figure out how much you could benefit and how much it could cost you, financially and mentally. How far are you willing to go?


Note that Child Support is a completely different process.