You Might Have to Continue Paying Alimony, Even After Your Ex-Spouse Remarries
Alimony, which is a series of payments made after divorce from the higher income ex-spouse to the lower income ex-spouse, used to be nearly universal in divorce cases two generations ago. Divorce was rare, but most divorced women had no means of financial support except their former husbands. Today, nearly half of marriages end in divorce, but most do not include alimony. Different jurisdictions have different rules for determining whether a former spouse is entitled to alimony, and these rules often relate to attitudes about whose responsibility it is to support financially vulnerable people. In the United States, the rationale is that a former spouse is entitled to alimony if it is a choice between depending on his or her ex or depending on public benefits. In Finland, by contrast, the social safety net is so robust that the courts only award alimony if one spouse intentionally or wantonly caused the other spouse to suffer heavy financial losses. In Canada, there are several reasons the court might order you to pay alimony to your ex-spouse, and the rules for terminating your alimony obligations vary according to why the court ordered you to pay spousal support. To find out more about your rights to terminate your alimony obligations, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.
It Depends on Why the Court Ordered You to Pay Alimony
Ontario law recognizes two kinds of alimony awards, namely compensatory spousal support and need-based spousal support. The court orders you to pay compensatory spousal support if your ex missed out on income-earning opportunities in order to contribute to your family and career, such as by leaving the workforce to care for your children full-time when they were young. Need-based spousal support is appropriate if the recipient spouse has a much lower income than the paying spouse, whether because of ill health or because of the recipient spouse’s occupation or employment history since before the marriage.
Need-based alimony obligations end automatically when the recipient spouse remarries. Now that your ex is remarried, covering household expenses are the responsibility of your ex and your ex’s new spouse; they are not your responsibility. In the case of compensatory spousal support, though, your ex’s remarriage does not automatically terminate your alimony obligations. If your ex homeschooled your children for 20 years while the family followed you on tour in your career as a professional musician, it is not her new spouse’s responsibility to make up for her lost income.
Your ex-spouse’s remarriage never affects child support obligations. The children’s legal parents are responsible for supporting them financially; their stepparents are not, even though, in practice, stepparents often contribute financially to the household that includes their stepchildren.
Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Making Sense of Alimony Laws
A family law attorney can help you determine whether you have the right to terminate your alimony obligations early because your former spouse has remarried. Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.
Source:
justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/fact3-fiches3.html
