Spousal Support

Spousal Support Basics

In general, if one spouse earns more money than the other spouse, he/she may have to pay spousal support. There is no set formula for the amount of spousal support. Spousal support is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Gender Bias and Spousal Support

Spousal support is not based on the gender of individuals. Men and women alike have to pay spousal support, although generally more men than women pay spousal support. However, the court will not look at the sex of an individual and base their decision on that factor. In my opinion, however, there do tend to be subtle biases in the courts: it’s rare that men are considered economically dependent on their wives.

How Spousal Support is Determined

A judge will list a number of factors that are considered, including the parties’ assets, incomes, ages, health, standard of living, ability to be self-sufficient, contribution to each other’s career and more. Basically, a judge will review all of the economic factors that affect each party, with particular emphasis on the effect of the marriage and the divorce on the parties’ financial circumstances, then try to apportion the family income in a fair way between the spouses.

How Long Must One Pay Spousal Support

For longer-term relationships, as well as in cases where the parties’ have children, the courts generally do not place a time limit on spousal support. This does not mean you’ll need to pay spousal support forever or that you’ll receive spousal support forever. It just means that courts do not want to engage in an exercise of gazing into a crystal ball too many years ahead to see what each spouse’s financial situation will be in the future. If you or your spouse’s financial situation changes materially, it is always open to you to go back to court to end spousal support or change it to a different amount.

In short-term relationships where there are no children, particularly when the couple is young, spousal support is normally time limited.

A type of spousal support order that is becoming more common is known as a “review order.” Under a review order, the court will say that the amount of spousal support can be reviewed after a certain number of years. This gives you the opportunity of going back to court to modify your spousal support order without the necessity of showing that your or your spouse’s financial situation has changed. However, it’s not a guarantee that spousal support will be changed – a review order simply opens the door to allowing a court to looking at the spousal support situation again.

Review orders are commonly made where one spouse is out of the workforce, but is expected to get back into the work force, particularly after some training.

The Unfaithful Spouse

Infidelity has no effect on spousal support. Yeah, it sucks to pay a lot of money each month for the rest of your life to someone who spent their time having affairs while you spent it advancing your career.

How Much Spousal Support Do I need to Pay?

Determining the correct amount of spousal support is more of an art than a science. In an effort to take a more scientific approach to determining the amount of spousal support, Mackinnon J and Murray analyzed all trial judgments in Ontario from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003 where spousal support was awarded. They found the following:

  1. Where no child support is being paid, the recipient spouse’s income was 36.6% to 44.5% of the families’ net disposable income (income less tax, CPP & EI).
  2. In cases of shared or split custody the family’s net disposable income is divided approximately equally between the two spouses.
  3. When one child is living with the spousal support recipient, the recipient typically receives 45-50% of the family’s net disposable income.
  4. When two children are living with the spousal support recipient, the recipient typically receives about 55% of the family’s net disposable income.
  5. When three children are living with the spousal support recipient, the recipient typically receives about 60% of the family’s net disposable income.
  6. When the children are in the care of the spousal support payor, the custodial parent typically keeps about 60% of the family’s net disposable income. The spousal support recipient usually receives what would be given if there were no children.

Some important things to note about the amount of spousal support awarded:

  1. For higher incomes (family incomes of over $150,000 per annum), the amount of spousal support as a percentage of the family’s net disposable income will normally be lower.
  2. For lower family incomes (family incomes below $50,000 per annum), the amount of spousal support as a percentage of the family’s net disposable income will normally be lower, as there’s simply not enough money to go around
  3. If the spousal support recipient is not making good efforts to earn an income, normally a lower amount of spousal support will be ordered.
  4. If the spousal support payor doesn’t voluntarily start paying spousal support right away, usually a higher amount of spousal support is awarded. Conversely, voluntarily paying spousal support right away normally results in a lower amount of spousal support being awarded.

Is that high?

You need special calculators to figure all of these amounts out. Here’s a sample calculation.

Say you, the husband, earn $100,000 per year. Your wife, who is a stay-at-home mom, has custody of your two teenage children. Miraculously, your children don’t have any unusual expenses (that means that they don’t play hockey or any other sport, don’t take music lessons, don’t need orthodontal work, etc. - in other words, a very unlikely situation).

Under this scenario, you’d pay $1,240 per month in child support, and according to this paper, you’d pay (on average) $2,316 in spousal support (tax deductible). In addition to this, your income taxes, CPP and EI would total $1,487 per month. This would leave you with a grand total of $3,074 per month clear to live off. As you can see, after payment of rent, car and food, that’s not a lot.

Note - this is just an example based on the paper. It does not mean that if your in this situation, this is what you’ll pay. It simply means that on average, that’s what people in your situation pay.