What Happens If a Spouse Does Not Become Financially Self-Sufficient After You Have Been Paying Spousal Support For a Few Years?

What Happens If a Spouse Does Not Become Financially Self-Sufficient After You Have Been Paying Spousal Support For a Few Years?

Ever wonder how long you have to pay spousal support when your ex-spouse is supposed to become financially self-sufficient by re-entering the workforce or getting training or returning to school to get a better-paying job?

That’s certainly an important question.  I will be examining this issue in this video today.

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

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After you and your spouse separate or get divorced, you both have an obligation to become financially self-sufficient as much as possible. 

However, you have to realize that financial self-sufficiency is the only aim or objective of spousal support.  Family court takes into account many factors in determining the issue of spousal support in any case.

Financial self-sufficiency is not achieved simply because your ex-spouse can meet basic expenses on a particular amount of income.  It relates to the ability to support a reasonable standard of living.

In fact, figuring out financial self-sufficiency in any particular case requires consideration of you and your spouse’s present and potential incomes, your standard of living during the marriage or common-law relationship, the likelihood of any suggested steps to increase your spouse’s ability to earn more income, you and your spouse’s post-separation circumstances, and the length of the marriage or common-law relationship.

For example, the court found in a recent case that the fact that the wife was meeting her basic expenses with her combined income from her job and her monthly child support payments did not mean she was financially self-sufficient.  Rather, financial self-sufficient, the court explained, related to her ability to support a reasonable standard of living, assessed in relation to the standard of living she had during the marriage and what could reasonably be expected after their separation.

Here, the spouses were married for seven years and the wife was the primary caregiver of their 11-year-old child.  She had made sacrifices in the progress of her career to care for the child and facilitate the husband’s career.

This idea of self-sufficiency is incorporated into the Spousal Support Guidelines (also known as the SSAG).  The Ontario family court pays a lot of attention to the SSAG. 

As you might recall, the SSAG produces recommended spousal support amounts after you input the length of your marriage or common-law relationship, your age and the age of your spouse, your income and your spouse’s income, and the number of children you have and their ages.

The SSAG takes into account the goal of financial self-sufficiency by giving the spouses time to disentangle their financial well-being rather than ensuring your spouse achieves a particular level of income.

I will discuss more about paying spousal support and your spouse’s goal of financial self-sufficiency in the next video.

If you have any questions about your separation, divorce or family law case and you would like our help, feel free to contact on my Facebook law office page, that’s O’Malley Family Law, or call me at 905-434-8837 and I’ll point in you in the right direction.

Click here to join my free Facebook GTA and Durham Region separation and divorce support group: GTA and Durham Region Separation and Divorce Support Group

Please make sure to share this important information and video with your friends, family members and co-workers so that it helps more people avoid serious problems in their separation or divorce before it’s too late.