Spousal support is not automatic. The first question is entitlement, and it has to be answered before any figure means anything. A spouse may be entitled because the relationship left them economically disadvantaged, for example after years out of the workforce raising children, because they genuinely need support and the other spouse can pay, or because an agreement promised it.
If there is entitlement, the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines are used to find a range for the amount and the duration. They are not law and no judge is bound by them, but they are used in nearly every negotiation and court case in British Columbia. The range they produce depends heavily on incomes, the length of the relationship and whether there are children.
Unmarried couples are included. A person who lived in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years can claim spousal support, and so can someone from a shorter relationship that produced a child. The deadlines are strict: generally two years from the divorce order for married spouses, and two years from separation for unmarried spouses.
What we help with
- Advice on whether spousal support is owed at all, before you negotiate a figure
- Calculating Advisory Guidelines ranges for amount and duration
- Lump sum support instead of monthly payments
- Reviewing or varying support after retirement, a job loss or a new relationship
- Ending support that has run its course, and resisting indefinite claims
- Support claims after a long marriage, and claims by unmarried spouses
- The tax treatment of periodic payments and lump sums
How it usually works
- 01
Answer entitlement first
We look at the roles each of you played, what the relationship cost you financially and what each of you can earn now. No number is worth arguing about until that is settled.
- 02
Find the range
With both incomes established we calculate the Advisory Guidelines range, including the effect of child support, which is always calculated first.
- 03
Settle the terms, including the end
Good support terms say when support is reviewed or ends, what happens on retirement or a new relationship, and how income will be exchanged. Leaving that open invites a second dispute later.
Related services
- Child SupportGuideline amounts, shared parenting, special expenses, income disputes, changes and arrears.
- Division of Property & DebtDividing the home, pensions, savings, businesses and debt under the Family Law Act.
- Separation AgreementsA written agreement that settles parenting, support, property and debt without a trial.