The Truth About Much Spousal Support You Can Get in Ontario!

The Truth About Much Spousal Support You Can Get in Ontario!

As I mentioned in another video, Ontario family court uses the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, also called SSAG for short, to calculate the amount of spousal support that a spouse can receive from their former spouse.

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

The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines uses two formulas to determine the amount of spousal support: The “Without Child Support” formula and the “With Child Support” formula. 

I discussed the “Without Child Support” formula in another video with a good example for you.  I will now review the “With Child Support” formula.

When you have children or child support is owing for these dependent children, the SSAG takes into account the same factors for the “With Child Support” formula.  You have to input your age, annual income, the length of marriage or cohabitation, and the names and ages of your children. 

You must also list your former spouse’s age and their annual income.

The SSAG then shows how much child support that the other parent or former spouse must pay you.

As well, the SSAG will show the low range, mid-point, and high end of the range amounts of spousal support that you could receive. 

In some situations, you will not receive any spousal support when you take into account the amount of child support you would receive from your former spouse.  This depends on the difference in annual income between you and your spouse and the amount of child support that you would receive from them.

The SSAG also takes into account shared custody situations in which children live with each parent for at least 40 percent of the time.    

In shared custody situations, you would receive less child support usually than if you had your children living with you on a full-time basis.  This means that you would receive more spousal support since you are receiving less child support based on the fact that you do not have your children living with you on a full-time basis.

Here’s example of the “With Child Support” formula:  John and Natalie are married for 19 years.   John is 50 years old and Natalie is 45 years old.  They have two children who are 8 and 10 years of age.  John makes $80,000 a year and Natalie makes $35,000 a year. 

The children live with each parent for 50 percent of the time.

The SSAG determines that John must pay $679 a month in child support to Natalie.  He would pay her no spousal support at the low end of the range in this scenario.  He would her $244 a month in spousal support at the mid-point of the range. He would pay her $552 at the high end of the range. 

Make sure you spend some time with your family lawyer discussing these important issues in your separation or divorce.

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.