How Long Can Spousal Support Last in Ontario?
If you get tired of the cold weather and the snow in Ontario, you can pass the time by reading about all the lawlessness going on in Florida. Not only does Florida have a warm climate, its laws seem determined to reward greed and corruption, so to break these laws, people must resort to increasingly outrageous behavior, hence the Florida Man phenomenon. Florida is not the only jurisdiction that does not recognize permanent spousal support, but just over a year ago, Florida abolished permanent alimony in an epic legal battle. In Ontario, the laws are clear that the duration of spousal support cannot be longer than the length of time that the couple cohabitated. In most cases, the duration of spousal support is shorter, because the recipient spouse usually returns to the workforce, no longer needing financial support from his or her former spouse. For help resolving a disagreement with your former spouse about how much spousal support one of you should pay and for what duration, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.
Court Rules That Spousal Support Should Not Exceed the Duration of Cohabitation, Even If the Recipient Spouse Is Unable to Work
In 2024, a family law court issued a decision in the Cameron v. Cameron case. The couple lived together for 16 years and had four children together. The wife was not in the workforce for most of the marriage, and she homeschooled the couple’s children. The husband paid child support until the youngest child graduated from high school. The wife worked after the parties divorced, but she left the workforce again when the couple’s youngest son was in high school, when she suffered serious injuries in a car accident.
In 2022, the parties went to court to determine whether the husband’s spousal support obligations should terminate or continue. The husband argued that he should stop paying spousal support, because if he continued, the duration of his spousal support obligations would be longer than the duration of his relationship with his former wife. The wife argued that, because she was disabled and could not return to the workforce, her former husband should continue the support payments. The court ruled that the support payments should not exceed the duration of the marriage and that, by the time the court issued its decision, they had already done so. Therefore, it ordered the husband to stop paying spousal support payments on December 31, 2024.
If you depended financially on your spouse during your marriage, do not think that you can get spousal support indefinitely. If you cannot work, or if your income-earning potential is limited, it is essential to get a property settlement agreement that makes you not need an endless supply of monthly payments from your ex-spouse.
Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Spousal Support
A family lawyer can help you with the practical aspects of property division in divorce, so you don’t have to spend years in court fighting about spousal support. Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.
Source:
ontario.ca/page/spousal-support
