Canada Divorce Laws

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Canada Divorce Law regarding Child Support

In this country, usually the non-principal residence or the non-custodial parent has to pay child support. A table named "Child Support Guidelines" has been developed and this is used to calculate the amount of child support. The monthly payment of child support depends on the following factors.

• The amount of money earned monthly by the parent.
• The number of children for who support is to be paid for.
• The province of residence of the parent.

It has been observed that in addition to the payment determined by the Child Support Guidelines, the parents have to pay additional "extraordinary" or "special" expenses. These expenses are for the following reasons.

• Post-secondary education
• Private school
• Any extra-curricular activities
• Medical expenses
• Daycare

The laws for child custody had developed in the best interests of child. In Canada, child custody can be of 4 types.

• Sole Custody: One parent alone has the custody of the child.
• Joint Custody: Both parents share custody of the child.
• Shared Custody: Each parent allocates minimum 40 percent of their available time with the child.
• Split Custody: One parent has custody over some children while the other parent has custody of the other children. As the court does not wish to split up the siblings, it is rather reluctant to award this sort of custody. Hence, this is rarely seen.

The right to finalize the crucial decisions regarding the wellbeing of the child rests with the parent who has custody of the child. These decisions may be related to religion, education, medical treatment or other vital issues.

Spousal Support Laws

The sex of the divorcing partner is not taken into account while finalizing spousal support. The thumb rule is that the spouse that earns more money has to pay to the spouse who earns less money. In this country, it is rare that males are financially dependent on the females. The judge considers the following factors of the spouses while resolving the issue of spousal support.

• Standard of living
• Health
• Ages
• Incomes
• Assets
• Contribution to each other's career
• Capacity to be self-sufficient

Property Division Laws

It must be kept in mind that the actual assets are not divided, but the value of the assets is split.

It is very important to calculate the Net Family Property. This is done as follows. On the date of separation, the value of all the assets is computed. From this value, the value of all liabilities on the same date is subtracted. From this result, the value of all assets on the date of marriage is deducted. From this result, the value of items that cannot be regarded as family property is deducted. Some of these are as follows.

• Personal injury awards
• Inheritances
• Gifts from third parties
• Insurance proceeds
• Settlements

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