How to Get Alimony in Ontario
If you think the term “alimony” sounds outdated, the family courts of Ontario agree with you. In the old days, divorces were rarer than they are today, but more of them required one former spouse, almost always the former husband, to pay alimony. Divorced men tended to continue paying alimony to their former wives until one spouse died, because in those days, divorced women had few opportunities to earn enough money not to need support from their former husbands, as far fewer married women held paid employment than they do today. Today, the official term that Ontario law uses is “spousal support,” but this is something of a misnomer, too. Not everyone who gets court-ordered support from an ex. Ontario family law has evolved to reflect the complexities of family life. From a legal standpoint, requesting support from your ex is a straightforward matter, but there is often room for disagreement about how much support, if any, one former partner should pay the other. For help navigating the process of claiming spousal support, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.
Are You Eligible for Court-Ordered Financial Support From Your Ex?
You might be eligible for spousal support if you depended on your ex financially during your relationship. The court assumes that this financial arrangement was by mutual agreement of the parties, that they both contributed to their household despite unequal incomes. Most cases where the court orders spousal support involve divorced couples, but you can also request court-ordered support even if you and your ex were never legally married to each other. For example, when unmarried domestic partners involve the court in their separation, the court might order the higher earning ex-partner to pay support to the lower earning ex-partner. Likewise, if you and your ex never lived together, the court might still order your ex to pay you support if you and your ex were in a relationship for at least three years and have a child together; this is a sufficiently significant financial entanglement to warrant paying support. Spousal support is separate from child support, which lasts until the children reach adulthood. Conversely, the duration of spousal support does not exceed the duration of the parties’ relationship. Spousal support is also different from the rarer scenario where the family court orders one ex to pay damages to the other for financial losses that he or she caused during the relationship.
The Legal Process of Collecting Spousal Support
The usual way to request spousal support is by listing the request as a provision on the petition for divorce or dissolution of domestic partnership. The parties usually agree that one of them will need spousal support, but they tend to work out the details of the amount and duration of the support during mediation.
Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Spousal Support
A family lawyer can help you and your ex disentangle your finances if one of you depended on the other financially during your relationship. Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.
Source:
ontario.ca/page/spousal-support
