Will You Pay Have To Pay Spousal Support When Your Ex-Spouse is Trying to Become Financially Self-Sufficient? Part Two

Will You Pay Have To Pay Spousal Support When Your Ex-Spouse is Trying to Become Financially Self-Sufficient? Part Two

Have you been trying to figure out if you have to continue to pay spousal support when your spouse is becoming or should be financially self-sufficient?

I will review this important issue in this video.

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

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In a recent case, the family court judge stressed that the spouse should become self-sufficient but the judge did not take into account the wife’s age, skills, education, opportunities for retraining or realistic prospects of self-sufficiency. 

The spouses in this case were married for 20 years with four children between the ages of 15 and 22.  Prior to marriage, the wife had obtained an education diploma.  However, during the marriage, she worked part-time in retail, event planning and design and she also ran a gift basket business. 

She earned between $4000 and $24,000 annually.  She also took on most of the responsibilities for house maintenance and raising the children, two of whom had learning disabilities. 

After separation, she quit her part-time job and made no effort to find work for three years.  She began to live extravagantly and by the time of the trial, she had depleted her capital and she was in debt.  At trial, the husband was earning $200,000 while the wife was working part-time at $13 per hour. 

The trial judge ordered monthly support of $4500 for ten years which was at the low of the SSAG scale, was time limited to recognize any economic disadvantage suffered by the wife as a result of the marriage, and to promote financial self-sufficiency within a reasonable period of time.

The Ontario Court of Appeal found no reason to change the amount of monthly spousal support.  However, the Court of Appeal set aside the ten-year limit and ordered indefinite support subject to a material change in circumstances.

Given the length of the marriage, the wife’s primary role in housework and child care, the spouses’ standard of living during the marriage, the wife’s lack of a full-time job outside the home since the children were born and the fact that she would be age 56 when the support was supposed to end by the trial judge, time-limited support was unrealistic.

You certainly need to carefully review the circumstances with your family lawyer to see if you can negotiate some type of time-limited support for your spouse.  However, you must pay your former spouse a reasonable amount of monthly spousal support if you want them to accept this type of proposal.

You must also give your former spouse a reasonable amount of time to get a good job over time so that they can become financially self-sufficient.

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.