What Are The 10 Key Financial Questions You Must Ask Yourself During Your Separation or Divorce in Ontario?

What Are The 10 Key Financial Questions You Must Ask Yourself During Your Separation or Divorce in Ontario?

How many times have you asked yourself about where do you start trying to figure out your financial situation during your separation or divorce?

That’s a great question to ask yourself in your family law situation.

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

Here’s 10 crucial questions to ask yourself during your separation or divorce:

1.   What is My Gross Annual Income?

You need to determine your gross annual income.  It’s usually not that difficult since you simply review the T4 that you receive from your employer.  

You need to know this important figure if you need to pay child support or spousal support depending on the facts of your situation.

2.   What Assets Do You Own on the Date of Separation?

You must make a list of your assets on your date of separation.  Give this some careful consideration. 

Your assets usually include real estate, bank accounts, RRSPs, stocks, bonds and other investments.

You must make sure you get documents that show the value of your assets on the date of separation.

3.   What Debts Do You Have on the Date of Separation?

You will also have to list the amounts of your debts on the date of separation.    

You must provide documents showing the amounts of these debts.

You need to get a list of your assets and debts on your date of separation with the supporting documentation since you must provide full financial disclosure to your former spouse in your separation or divorce.

4.    Has Your Spouse Provided You With Their Key Financial Information?

Your former spouse must provide you with key financial information in your separation or divorce in Ontario.

They must give you a list of assets and debts on the date of separation.  They must also provide supporting documentation that shows the value of these assets and the amounts of the debts.

5.   Have You Figured out Your Child Custody or Parenting Time Arrangements with Your Former Spouse?

Increasingly, parents are having their children on an equal basis.  In other words, each parent has their children for half of the time.  This dramatically affects child support payments.

When one parent has the children living with them on a full-time basis, the other parent must pay the full amount of child support to the other parent based on the Ontario Child Support Guidelines.

If you have the children living with you for one week and then the other parent has the children living with them the following week on a rotating basis, then the parent with the higher gross annual income will pay child support to the other parent with the lower gross annual income based on a set-off amount. 

It will certainly be less child support that the full amount of child support payable if the children were living with the other parent on a full-time basis.

I will review the next five crucial financial questions you must ask yourself during your separation or divorce in another video.

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.