All parents in Ontario are legally required to financially care for their children, and parents who are separated or divorced are still responsible for financially supporting their children. When the children live most of the time with one parent, the other parent will be required to pay child support to cover expenses related to food, shelter, clothing and school supplies.

The amount of child support a parent must pay is in accordance with the Child Support Guidelines that set out the amount of child support based on the payor’s yearly before tax income, the number of children and the Province/Territory where the children reside.

The parent who is the payor does not have to be a biological parent – adoptive parents or even step-parents who have treated the child as a member of their family and have financially supported the child/children may be responsible for paying child support.

If a paying parent is not making their monthly child support payment, the Family Responsibility Office (“FRO”) may become involved. Once involved, the FRO will deduct the monthly amount from the payor’s income. If payments are missed, the FRO has various enforcement procedures that they can exercise to obtain the monthly child support payment which includes garnishing wages, suspending a support payor’s driver’s licence or putting a lien against your property.

If you and your former spouse had substantially different earnings throughout your marriage, or if you did not work during the marriage while your spouse advanced their career, you may be entitled to spousal support. Spousal support is an acknowledgement that marriage is a financial partnership, and so one party should not be significantly disadvantaged by the change in the household income upon a divorce.

Spousal support is not an automatic right. First, you must demonstrate an entitlement to receive spousal support either on compensatory or needs-based grounds, topics we will explore in another FAQ. Once you have shown that you are entitled to spousal support, the question becomes what monthly amount is appropriate and for how long you should receive it. In determining the quantum and duration of spousal support, there are various factors that the court will consider such as the length of the marriage, your age at the time of separation, and your ability to become self-sufficient. There is no table amount as in the case of child support. Rather, while spousal support is based on income, it is calculated in accordance with the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines that provide ranges of monthly spousal support from low to high. If the parties cannot agree to a monthly amount within the range, then a court will make that decision at trial.

The ultimate goal of spousal support though is not meant to be a windfall but is intended to help the spouse receiving support to get back on their feet. This may include their former partner paying for education or retraining to make this happen. Likewise, if a paying spouse’s income changes significantly, they will likely apply through the court or amend their separation agreement to have their support amount varied since it no longer accurately reflects their income.

When a couple’s marriage breaks down, the parties’ must deal with the division of their assets. This means that the value of any property that was acquired during the marriage and that you still have when you separate must be divided equally between you and your spouse. However, any property that you brought into the marriage, remains your property but you must account for any increase in the value of the property during the marriage. Inheritances and gifts received during the marriage is not considered an asset to the party that received it so long as they did not commingle the inheritance or gift with their spouse. Once an inheritance or gift is commingled with the other spouse, the exclusion is lost, and the value of the asset is to be divided upon separation.

There are specific rules as to how property is calculated and then divided between the parties. The law is structured in a way to ensure that each party leaves the marriage on an equal footing; that both parties are entitled to equally share in the accumulation of wealth during the marriage. To determine the division in property, each party must complete a Financial Statement setting out all assets and liabilities. This exercise will provide the party’s Net Family Property (NFP) value. Once both parties have disclosed their NFP, an equalization payment is determined. This means the party with the higher NFP value will make a payment to the spouse with the lower NFP in order to equalize their assets.

Sometimes parties take it upon themselves to decide on how to divide their assets. While this may work in some circumstances, in others, it may result in one party leaving the marriage with substantially less than what they are entitled to. There are also other situations where you may have a party that has recklessly depleted the family assets. In this latter circumstance, that party’s conduct may disentitle them from receiving an equal division of net family property.

If you are in a common law relationship, the law about the division of property is very different. Upon separation, common law couples are not entitled to an equalization payment and your rights and entitlements may be rooted in other claims such as a constructive trust. If assets and liabilities are jointly owned, then each party leaves the relationship with their ownership interest.

The division of property is complex and is very dependent on the nature of your relationship (married vs. common law). Whether you are living common law or married, our firm will ensure that you receive the best legal advice to secure your financial future.

Parents often still use the word ‘custody’ as it’s used in TV shows and movies – to describe who has the ultimate parenting rights of their child. The truth is that in Ontario what we think of as ‘custody’ comes in two parts, and the terms recently changed. Parenting time is time spent with the child and was previously called ‘access’. Decision-making responsibility is what used to be called ‘custody,’ and refers to the right of a parent to make decisions about their child’s well-being. 

Family disputes are contentious, and parties can get especially aggressive when children are involved. Even if the law states that you are entitled to parenting time and decision-making responsibility, your former spouse and their lawyer may be fighting that access at every turn. Without the right representation, your former spouse may use all their time and energy to make it difficult for you to see or spend time with your child or children.

A family law lawyer like Geraldine Acosta knows your rights.  She has no problem going toe to toe with your former spouse’s lawyer and has no hesitation about going to court to assert your rights. Parents in family law often report feeling lost and helpless in the process. Geraldine Acosta can help make sure that doesn’t happen.

When children are involved, the primary standard that courts use to assess any situation is called the ‘best interests of the child.’ It does not matter if one parent really wants primary parenting time, or really wants to curtail their former partner’s parenting time out of spite – it is the child’s best interests that take priority. Typically, the court will defer to both parents being involved in the child’s upbringing and that both parents have the right to spend time with their child/children unless the circumstances of the case make it so that co-parenting and/or parenting time is not practical. 

The Best Interests of the Child is a legal test set out federally in the Divorce Act and the Children’s Law Reform Act. It takes into consideration a long list of circumstances, including the child’s age and their development, the history of the child’s care, each parent’s ability to care for the child moving forward, and in some cases the child’s views and preferences. While animosity in the parents’ relationship may not restrict access, the court will look at the ability of the parents to cooperate when it comes to the child’s needs and will take into account any violence or imbalance of power between the parties if it affects the ability of the parties to co-parent the child.

Overall, what is in the child’s best interest will always prevail and that is what the court will always consider when determining parenting time and decision-making responsibility.