Sample Separation Agreement

If both claim the Child on Income Tax Return then they will both be asked to return any benefits they receieved. Only one can apply.
I know where both parties did apply their child on both income tax returns for 3 yrs and then Revenue Canada noticed. Now she is paying back $7000.
Her ex only makes $11000/yr so it does not affect his Return but he will not let her use it for spite.
It needs to be marked in the agreement that one gets to claim their child on Income Tax Returns or they alternate years.
Also in a 50/50 split the lowest income gets the monthly Child Tax Credits.
 
If both claim the Child on Income Tax Return then they will both be asked to return any benefits they receieved. Only one can apply.
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This would be applicable in a shared custody situation where both parents would have the child over 40%...technically in that instance NEITHER is eligible to claim the child, since you are not allowed to claim a child you pay support for. In a sole custody situation (where one person has the child over 61%) then THAT person is permitted to claim the child. If the other tries to, you will be asked by CRA to prove your entitlement. The person with the child in a sole custody situation would be able to.

Also in a 50/50 split the lowest income gets the monthly Child Tax Credits.
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Both incorrect and technically illegal. You cannot write in anything to do with the CCTB/UCCB in a family court order. It's not enforceable. By LAW, when the situation changes, you are legally obligated to inform CRA of the change, and THEY make the determination via the guidelines in the Income Tax Act, as to whether the change warrants a change in the payment arrangements.
 
Might I suggest, if you don't have Joint or Split Custody, that you include that the childrens names are to remain the same, and that you want yearly disclosure from school, Dr.'s, CAS if necessary. Yes I know that in fact we are entitled to this, but you can't imagine the struggle we are having dealing with School officials etc that don't want to ruffle mom's feathers and call her for her permission every time we make a request. If we could provide an agreement proving entitlement, we could avoid the whole " permission" issue. And that if either party moves, that a halfway meeting point should be established.
 
The best agreements, by way of success, are those where both parties sit down together and come up with their own agreement. Its when one of them gets to sit down for some advice that it often goes nasty and those with a vested interest having some endless litigation just throw some fuel on the fire to create another "good client".

Copying someone elses separation agreement from an internet forum is almost certain to guarantee problems. The best agreements are those that work successfully and you those who sign them are most unlikely to make their agreement public.
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Those who do their own and then find out later the problems or lack of foresight the agreement does not cover have or may have even greater problems or issues and legal bills.

An addition I had drawn up in my own agreement that she would never sign was a dispute mechanism where 3 mediators were agreed to prior and if an issue could not be settled between ourselves....the arguement //issue would be presented in writing to the mediator or a 1hr to 2hr meeting and the mediator would decide which viewpoint they would follow. The person who lost would also be responsible for the mediators fee's.

They could of course then challenge the stance of the mediator in court if they desired...but having a built in dispute mechanism with a degree of financial accountability would i was told insure some parents be a little more responsible or fair.
 
NBDad said:
This would be applicable in a shared custody situation where both parents would have the child over 40%...technically in that instance NEITHER is eligible to claim the child, since you are not allowed to claim a child you pay support for.
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I thought this had been changed? Anyone know??
 
Our agreement does not have the clause for child support to continue should our child pursue secondary education.

If my daughter does decide to go to the university she is targetting, and remain living at home as she has planned, the money I've set aside in her RESP would cover her tuition, books and activity fees.

Is it better than 50/50 chance in the province of Ontario that my ex would be successful in seeking legal action which would force me to continue to pay child support? Would it be over and above what the child earns and what payments would come from the RESP?
 
dadtotheend said:
More like 90/10 that you would continue to pay CS for the first university degree.
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Thanks for the response.

I remember someone saying the absurdity is that a child of 18 (or 19 depending on province) of both parents who remained together has no recourse to force parents to pay for a secondary education nor support them in any way.

I've been doing my best to explain to, encourage, and even scare, my daughter that she MUST get a university degree. And i'm thrilled to be in a position to ensure she can achieve that with no student debt.

Sometimes its hard for me to understand why it's the law or convention to continue to pay CS when a child becomes an adult because I put myself through university including living away from home. I have no doubt my parents would have helped me if I needed it. But, I worked, did well at school, and tapped into my savings.

My daughter will probably have enough RESP money from me alone to cover living on campus, food, tuition, books. That seems more than fair by my way of thinking but I'm not the one setting the rules. Perhaps her mother will see that as fair enough.
 
cannon_fodder said:
I remember someone saying the absurdity is that a child of 18 (or 19 depending on province) of both parents who remained together has no recourse to force parents to pay for a secondary education nor support them in any way.
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Sometimes its hard for me to understand why it's the law or convention to continue to pay CS when a child becomes an adult because I put myself through university including living away from home. I have no doubt my parents would have helped me if I needed it. But, I worked, did well at school, and tapped into my savings.
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Said it before and I'll say it again.

It's because the law doesn't want to be involved in these family matters. The law would prefer to have the family sort it out for themselves.

But if the family is unable to do so, for whatever reason, then the law is going to fall on the side of the fence that best meets the interests of the children.

That means supporting the children. Period.
 
I'm in an increasingly messy divorce, one case conference (waste of time as usual) under our belt after 2 years. Overpaying SS, paying full table CS in spite of shared custody. Leaving that aside...

Want to try to minimize legal costs before I'm bankrupt so attempting to come up with a separation agreement/offer to settle. I'm relatively literate so think I could hammer out the basics but not sure where to start as far as format and content.

Some great ideas in this thread but it's the formatting and basics that I'm a little short on, even after a fair bit of googling.

Not naive enough to think it wise to do it sans lawyers entirely but would like to hammer out the basics of an offer/agreement on my own to save costs from the high-priced "help". To date anything the lawyers have drafted I've vetted prior to filing, and without fail end up correcting substantially (everything from spelling, grammar...to critical financial errors). Not going to pay for that sort of "help" from the outset this time..

Anyone have pinpoint location of some samples or ideas on where to start?
 
Comment about calculating CS

Comment about calculating CS

My spouse and I wrote our own seperation agreement 2 years ago and it has worked well. However I think it has because we continue to have a good relationship and are reasonable.

On to my comment.

In the sample provided it says "The payment amounts will be based off Line 150 of the parties respective Notice of Assessments", however if you read through the Child Support guidelines provided by the Federal government, there is a worksheet you use to determine the amount to use for payments.

For most people line 150 probably works, but there are some cases line 150 needs to be adjusted. In my agreement we have actually said CS payment amounts are based on earnings as determined by the Child Support Guidelines.

Something to consider if it applies to you or may in the future.
 
Resurrecting this....

For those that have a lawyer drafted one (personal info removed) that they are willing to share, perhaps you can dump it here for those that might find it useful?
 
I would be happy to provide a sample I have drafted by a lawyer but don't know how. If I type it in here, the document has several legal size pages, will take me long time. By the time I am done, system logs me out and I will need to start all over again.

Any suggestions?
 
Whatever you end up with, make it a .zip file. The message board software is happier with that.

If you have trouble, pm me.
 
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