Interim Spousal Support

Divorce cases are more straightforward when the parties can easily become financially independent of each other, even if they were married for a long time or have minor children together.  This usually happens when the parties each earn an approximately amount in employment income.  When one spouse has a much lower income than the other, it is usually clear that the higher income spouse must pay spousal support, also known as alimony, to the lower earning spouse.  There is plenty of room for disagreement about the amount and how much the higher income spouse should pay.  The court can impute income to the lower earning spouse, where the lower income spouse is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed and the court decides how much the lower income spouse can earn with reasonable effort, but since this is, by definition, a hypothetical number, the lower income spouse often has reason to argue that the amount of imputed income is too high.  When it takes a long time to figure out how much spousal support to order, the court can issue a temporary order for interim spousal support, which it can adjust when the proceedings become final.  To request interim spousal support, or if the court has ordered you to pay it, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.

Nat v. Jennings: A Case of Interim Spousal Support Decided Several Years After the Parties’ Divorce Became Final

The Ontario family court’s ruling in the Nat v. Jennings illustrates why spouses request interim spousal support and why spousal support amounts can be difficult to determine.  The parties divorced in 2019 after 28 years of marriage; their daughter was an adult at the time of the divorce.  The parties’ financial situation changed several times during the marriage, but the wife was entitled to spousal support, in the event that she should need it, based on the rule of 64.  She was 54 years old when the divorce became final, so her age plus the number of years of the marriage exceeded 65.

Several years after the divorce, she fell on hard times financially.  She had been earning slightly more than a third of what the husband earned, but she had to take a compassionate leave from her work as a phlebotomist to care for her mother.  She moved into her mother’s house, and her only source of income during that time was her self-employment selling arts and crafts she made.  The wife requested interim spousal support, but she did not submit the required disclosures about the amount of self-employment income she earned.  Also, she could not predict how long she would need to continue as her mother’s caregiver and when she could return to her old job.  The court ordered the husband to pay interim spousal support, based on its best estimate of imputed income, while it was waiting for the wife to submit the financial disclosures.

Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Requesting Spousal Support

A family lawyer can help you request spousal support if you are struggling financially after ending a long marriage.  Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.

Source:

canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc5516/2023onsc5516.html?searchUrlHash=AAAAAQAObmF0IHYgamVubmluZ3MAAAAAAQ&resultIndex=1