How Much Spousal Support Can You Get in Ontario?

How Much Spousal Support Can You Get in Ontario?

If you’ve ever wondered how much spousal support you are entitled to receive in your separation or divorce, it’s like many things in family law- it can be confusing!

Many spouses, for example, believe that they are entitled to half of their spouse’s annual income for spousal support.  The answer is that it depends on the circumstances of your case. 

Hi, my name is Thomas O’Malley.  I’m an experienced family lawyer in Durham Region and the GTA.

Here are some general principles that will help you:

If you have been married or living in a common-law relationship for any reasonable period of time, such as 4 or 5 years or longer, you are most likely entitled to spousal support if your spouse has a significantly higher annual income than your annual income.

Ontario family law relies greatly on the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines or SSAG for short.  

The SSAG sets out how much spousal support you are entitled to receive based on various factors.  You have to input into the SSAG your age, your annual income and list your children and their ages.  You must also list your spouse’s age and annual income.

Another key factor that you list is the length of your marriage or common-law relationship.

The SSAG uses two specific formulas: the “Without Child Support” and “With Child Support” formulas.

I will first review the “Without Child Support” formula 

You use the “Without Child Support” formula when you are not entitled to receive any child support.

The “Without Child Support” formula is really based on the length of the marriage or relationship and the incomes of the two spouses.  The amount of spousal support and length of time that you would receive spousal support (called the duration) increases with the length of the relationship to a maximum of marriage or common-law relationships that are 25 years or longer.

The amount of spousal support ranges from 1.5 to 2 per cent of the difference between the spouses’ gross annual income for each year of marriage or living together up to a maximum of 50 per cent in which 50 per cent means an equalization in the spouses’ annual income.

The length of time for the payment of spousal support ranges from one-half to one year for each year of marriage or living together with duration. 

Since one of the factors in determining the amount of spousal support and duration is age, the SSAG calculate indefinite support when the marriage or cohabitation has lasted 5 years or longer and the years married or living together added to the support recipient age at separation total 65 or more.

Here’s an example of the “Without Child Support” formula:  The husband is 55 years old and the wife is 44 years old.  They have been married for 18 years at the time of separation.  The husband has an annual income of $85,000 and the wife has an annual income of $ 35,000.00. 

The SSAG calculates that the wife could receive one of the following spousal support amounts:  She would receive $1125 a month on the low end of the range, $1312 a month on the mid-point of the range, and $1500 a month on the high end of the range.

I will discuss the “With Child Support” formula in another video.

Take some time to discuss this important issue with your family lawyer.

If you have any questions about your separation, divorce or family law case and you would like our help, there’s a few ways to contact our office.  You can leave a message on my Facebook law office page, visit my website at www.canadiandivorcelegaladvice.com, or call me directly at 905-434-8837. 

We would be happy to speak to you.

Oh, by the way, did you know you can protect your family law rights and get essential information on settling your family law issues with your former spouse with the daily indispensable family law advice and tips at my FREE Facebook group? 

Click here to find out more: Durham Region Separation and Divorce Legal Support Group  

Thanks for watching this video.