What is the Valuation Date and Why is It So Important to Your Property Claims in Your Separation or Divorce?

What is the Valuation Date and Why is It So Important to Your Property Claims in Your Separation or Divorce?

In this series of videos on dealing with property claims in your separation or divorce, we’ve been covering the most important topics you need to understand to determine the issue of any payment to deal with property claims in your family law case.

In this video, we will continue our discussion with the issue of what is called the valuation date in your separation or divorce.

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

You and your spouse have to calculate your net family property to figure out the equalization payment. 

However, what date do you use to calculate your net family property? 

You have to use the valuation date to calculate your net family property.  The valuation date in most cases means the date the spouses separate and there is no reasonable prospect that they will resume cohabitation.

In other words, the valuation date will be the date of separation in most cases.

When are spouses deemed to be separated for purposes of calculating net family property? 

The court will first look at when the spouses started to live separate and apart.  The court will examine such factors as whether one spouse has moved out of the family residence or whether the spouses have been living in separate bedrooms in the family house.  The court will also look at whether the spouses have had any type of a sexual relationship. 

The more the spouses have lived separated lives and have stopped having a sexual relationship, the more likely the court will find that the spouses have lived separate and apart.   

For example, in one case, the spouses had continued to live in the family home. 

However, the spouses had minimal involvement with each other for a number of months. 

The spouses only communicated by notes and each spouse had hired a family law lawyer to deal with their situation.  The court found that the spouses had separated when they started to have minimal involvement with each other even though they still lived in the same house.

In contrast, the court found in another case that the spouses had not separated even though the husband lived in the basement and the wife lived in another part of the family home. 

The spouses continued to have sexual relations and went to various social functions and events together even though the spouses did not sleep in the same bedroom. 

The court must also find that there is no reasonable prospect that the spouses will resume cohabitation or live together again.  If the spouses are physically separate but they are still attempting any form of reconciliation, the court will not find that the spouses have separated until the spouses have stopped trying to reconcile. 

However, if one spouse is trying to reconcile or get back together with the other spouse and the other spouse does not want to reconcile, the court will find that the spouses have separated.

Make sure you spend some time with your family lawyer discussing this important issue 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 for more information: Durham Region Separation and Divorce Legal Support Group  

Thanks for watching this video.