Our top rated Calgary spousal support lawyers who can be reached at 403-444-5503 fully understand the perfect economic storm that has hit Alberta and in particular Calgary. The slow down in the oil patch has been catastrophic and the fires in Fort McMurray are even worse both personally and economically. Hiring one of our top rated Calgary Spousal Support Lawyers can help you avoid a perfect legal storm.
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Calgary Spousal Support Lawyers offices of MacLean Family Law 403-444-5503
MacLean Law is Vancouver’s top rated family law firm once again and due to demands for Calgary family law clients we have committed to opening our 5th Western Canadian office. Our new Calgary Spousal Support Lawyers offices are located on the 10th floor of Banker’s Hall in downtown Calgary.
Calgary Spousal Support Lawyers
The MacLean Law Calgary spousal support lawyers also know these tough economic times mean paying spouse’s have had their earnings vaporize or at a minimum diminished dramatically. Our highly skilled Calgary spousal support lawyers act for medium to high net worth Calgary executives, entrepreneurs and professionals and we fully understand the special complexities of a high net worth spousal support claim.
In this blog Lorne N. MacLean, QC founder of top rated MacLean Family Law points out some basics of how spousal support works.
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Top rated Vancouver family lawyers open Calgary office 403-444-5503
Our Calgary spousal support lawyers know that in medium to high net worth spousal support cases the stakes are high on complex issues such as:
- $350,000 cap exception for high income earners
- self sufficiency objectives for recipient spouses
- whether there is shared custody or split custody of the children
- repartnering
- retirement
- loss of job
- dramatic declines in incomes of the payor or recipient
- double dipping on company and pension income
- how capital assets factor into spousal support
Our Calgary spousal support lawyers also warn that a failure to act promptly by other spouse to vary to correct and reduce spousal and child support when one loses their job is crucial to avoiding an unfair result.
The Alberta courts Family Law Information Centre Information Booklet provides a tidy summary of the basic principles of how the Divorce Act and the Family Law Act govern spousal support when combined with the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines. Their website is chock full of good information. Remember however, that consulting a lawyer is always wise to avoid a bad outcome.
You are in an Adult Interdependent Relationship if you are in a relationship of interdependence with another adult
- for three years; or
- for less than 3 years if you have signed an Adult Interdependent
Partnership agreement; or
- for less than 3 years if the two of you have a child together.
Both the Divorce Act (Canada) and the Family Law Act discuss the objectives of a spousal support order; in other words, the purpose of a spousal support order. The objectives are to:
- recognize any economic advantages or disadvantages to the spouses coming out of the marriage or occurring because the marriage has ended;
- divide up any financial costs arising from the care of the children over and above the child support;
- lessen any financial hardship of the spouses which may have taken place because of the end of the marriage; and
- as much as possible, encourage the spouses to become able to support themselves within a reasonable period of time.
The Divorce Act (Canada) says that when making a spousal support order, the court must think about the condition, means, needs and other circumstances of each spouse, including:
- how long the spouses lived together;
- the functions performed by each spouse during the time they
lived together; and
- any order, agreement or arrangement relating to support of either spouse.
The Family Law Act also lists the above factors. However, that Act also tells the judge to think about these factors:
- whether or not either of the spouses / partners have a legal obligation to support another person (e.g. another spouse or children);
- The Without Children Formula
- If the parties do not have children, or if the children are all grown, then the Without Children formula applies. This formula will give a “low end” and a “high end” amount.
- ° if the paying spouse / partner lives with someone else, how much that person contributes to their household expenses (and by doing that, increases the ability to pay support); and
- ° if the recipient spouse / partner lives with someone else, how much that person contributes to their household expenses (and by doing so, decreases the financial need).
- The With Children Formula
- When parties have dependent children, the formula for calculating spousal support is more complicated, and one must use special software. In general terms, the formula calculates the net disposable incomes of each party, after paying taxes, deductions and the children’s costs, and then calculates the amounts of spousal support to be paid that would leave the recipient with between 40 and 46% of the total of the two parties’ net disposable incomes.
- There are variations to this formula if there is shared or split custody, or if the children live with the party who will be paying the spousal support.
When there are no children, the Spousal Support Guidelines say that support should continue the support should continue for between .5 and 1 year for each year that the parties lived together.
If parties lived together for more than 20 years, or if you add the years of living together to the recipient’s age, and the total is greater than 65, then the support will be paid indefinitely.
When there are children, the Spousal Support Guidelines say that the courts may use the same guidance as above, or, for shorter marriages, they may order that support may end when the youngest child starts school, or when the youngest child finishes school.
Do Not Delay In Correcting Calgary Spousal Support If Your Income Changes
Our experieinced Calgary spousal support lawyers warn that now that many Calgary spousal support paying spouses have suffered catastrophic pay cuts they may be in too much shock to take action to correct the spousal support they are paying to a proper and sustainable level. Failure to act promptly can lead to a very nasty result. You cannot simply reduce or stop paying spousal support after a job loss or pay cut you need to obtain the consent of your spouse and paper it in a court order or amended agreement. If you cannot get prompt cooperation you need to proceed to court. Delay in applying to cancel almost always leads to a refusal to correct the overpayment of support.
In Haisman v Haisman Alberta Court of Appeal 7 R.F.L. (4th) 1 the court joined out the heavy onus a paying spouse faces when they were too upset by losing their job to promptly apply to reduce support. Our Calgary spousal support lawyers do not want you to been of these poor payor. Apply promptly or face the consequences.
Where the past inability to make child support payments as they came due has lasted for a substantial period of time, but the former spouse did not apply during that time for a variation order, the situation may be different. On a later application to vary, a judge will have to decide, with the benefit of hindsight, whether it would have been appropriate to suspend enforcement of the support order during the time when the former spouse was unable to pay, or whether at least a temporary reduction in the child support payments would have been in order. A judge should view with considerable skepticism any claim that a reduction in the support pay- ments, temporary or indefinite, would have been proper. However, if he or she decides that it would, the judge may for this reason reduce accordingly the arrears of child support which have built up. In my view this is a spe- cial circumstance.
30 I wish to emphasize that the mere accumulation of arrears, without evidence of a past inability to pay, is neither a change under s. 17(4) of the Divorce Act, nor a special circumstance.
31 A present inability to pay arrears of child support does not by itself justify a variation order. It may jus- tify a suspension of enforcement in relation to the arrears for a limited time, or an order providing for periodic payments on the arrears. However, in the absence of some special circumstance, a variation order should only be considered where the former spouse has established on a balance of probabilities that he or she cannot pay and will not in the future be able to pay the arrears.
32 In short, in the absence of some special circumstance, a judge should not vary or rescind an order for the payment of child support so as to reduce or eliminate arrears unless he or she is satisfied on a balance of probab- ilities that the former spouse or judgment debtor cannot then pay, and will not at any time in the future be able to pay, the arrears.
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Calgary Spousal Support lawyer Lorne MacLean, QC
If you are concerned about a Calgary spousal support issue we urge you to pick up the phone and book an appointment to meet with one of our Calgary spousal support lawyers to chart a path to financial fairness when it comes to Calgary spousal support. Call us toll free across Alberta or BC to get help at 403 444 5503 or visit our Calgary Spousal Support Lawyers office in Bankers Hall, Calgary.
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