Are you looking for a spousal support calculator in Ontario? Then it is important you learn about what needs to go into the spousal support agreement.

It is important that you get a family lawyer to create your Ontario spousal support agreement. Why is this important? Because if you do not create it properly, it would be deemed void in the future.

The lawyers offer flat fees or hourly options for these types of agreements.

This is a small cost to ensure that your agreement is valid and will be upheld by a judge. The cost of litigation to fight over a separation agreement is very expensive. It’s better to do it right from the beginning.

Do not use a free online spousal support calculator for Ontario. The courts will laugh at you and you will lose face. This is because those online calculators are not accurate.

You need to use specialized software to calculate spousal support. Instead, book a free consultation with a lawyer to properly calculate the amount of spousal support. You can contact us to book a free 15-minute consultation with a lawyer.

If you want to look up a lawyer in Ontario or leave a positive or negative review, you can use our lawyer directory.

Large Spousal Support Cases In Ontario

Spousal support cases have been at the forefront of Canadian media in recent years, with several high-profile cases attracting widespread attention. One such case involved billionaire Michael DeGroote and his ex-wife Elly Steinberg.

In 2015, Steinberg was awarded $15 million in spousal support, which at the time, was the highest amount of spousal support ever awarded in Canada. Steinberg argued that she deserved a significant portion of DeGroote’s fortune, as she had contributed significantly to his businesses during their marriage. DeGroote disagreed, claiming that Steinberg had already received a generous settlement. However, the court ruled in Steinberg’s favour, awarding her $15 million.

Another high-profile case involved former NHL player Mike Comrie and his ex-wife, actress Hilary Duff. In 2016, the couple finalized their divorce, with Duff being awarded primary custody of their son and Comrie being ordered to pay $2,408,786 in spousal support. The high amount of spousal support was due to the significant income disparity between Comrie and Duff. The couple had a prenuptial agreement in place, which was later invalidated due to its lack of specificity, leading to further legal issues.

In yet another contentious case, former NHL player Mike Danton and his ex-wife Mary Danton were involved in a spousal support dispute. In 2015, Mary was awarded $6,000 per month in spousal support following their divorce. However, in 2017, Mike requested that the spousal support be terminated, citing financial difficulties. Mary accused Mike of hiding assets and argued that his financial situation was not as dire as he claimed. The court ruled in favour of Mary, ordering Mike to continue paying the spousal support.

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Ontario Spousal Support Agreement

An Ontario spousal support agreement might say that spouses agree not to claim spousal support from each other. It might provide a specific amount of spousal support in the event of a breakdown of the relationship.

The agreement might have a clause containing a reference to spousal support present in almost every domestic contract. So what happens if you sign a contract that has a clause in relation to spousal support and later decide that you want to have it set aside?

Both the Divorce Act and the Family Law Act have provisions in relation to setting aside spousal support terms of a domestic contract.

So, if spouses enter into a domestic contract addressing spousal support, it is open for one of the spouses to make a claim under the legislation to set aside the terms of the agreement.

Our family attorneys can assist you with the following:

spousal support advisory guidelines
income tax returns (we can refer you to a tax lawyer)
receiving a final order
deal with spousal support
separation agreement
common law disputes
child and spousal support
support agreement
create a written agreement

Child Support Guidelines

Under the Divorce Act, the court will conduct a two-stage investigation into the circumstances surrounding the agreement.

First, the court will look at the circumstances of the parties at the time the contract was negotiated and signed. At this stage, the court will examine whether there is any reason to discount the agreement such as circumstances of oppression, pressure or other vulnerabilities of one party.

Then it will consider whether the substance of the agreement is in substantial compliance with the objectives of spousal support as outlined in the Act.

Second, the court will assess the parties’ present-day circumstances to determine whether the agreement still reflects the intentions of the parties.

At this stage, the court will also examine the extent to which the agreement is still in substantial compliance with the objectives of the Act.

In order to show that the parties did not intend for the agreement to apply in the current circumstances, they find themselves in.

The party wishing to set aside the spousal support clause will need to show that their circumstances could not have been reasonably foreseen at the time the agreement was reached.

Paying Spousal Support In Ontario

If at either stage of the evaluation, the parties’ agreement fails to be in substantial compliance with the overall objectives of the Act, the court may set it aside. The key is whether it substantially complies.

Just because an agreement deviates from the spousal support objectives articulated in the Divorce Act does not mean it will be overturned.

The court wants to respect the autonomy of individuals to come to an agreement outside of court without the court’s interjection.

So, where the parties have reached an agreement that is substantially in compliance with the Divorce Act objectives, the considerable weight will be given to upholding the contract.

Do you have questions about spousal support clauses in domestic contracts? Then speak to one of the law firms we can connect you with. The lawyers have experience assisting clients with spousal support issues.

Further, they can provide general legal advice to help you with your family law issues.

Spousal Support Ontario Using Specialized Software

In most cases, you will calculate child support in accordance with the Federal Child Support Guidelines. An applicant simply needs to take the income from their spouse’s most recent income tax return.

They then need to look at the Child Support Table for their province. They will find the correlating amount of child support for that income based on the number of children.

If the applying parent believes that the paying parent’s income tax return does not accurately reflect their actual income, they may ask the court to make an order that the paying parent’s income is a different value based on their evidence.

The question is, how is the proper income determined if you don’t use the paying parent’s income tax returns?

First, the applying parent should be aware that it is their responsibility to prove that the paying parent’s income is different than what is reported on their income tax returns.

This can be shown through paystubs, deposits into bank accounts, corporate income statements, etc. They must show that the income tax return is not a fair indicator of the paying parent’s income.

The next step is to determine what income is appropriate.

Divorce calculator Ontario

There is no such thing as a divorce calculator in Ontario. Divorce is not a pure calculation, the same way as it is with spousal support. The division of property is much more complicated than calculating the incomes of both spouses.

In our experience, a lot of people try to take shortcuts when it comes to divorce. It just doesn’t work.

Once you submit your divorce paperwork to the courts, a judge will review everything. If everything isn’t professionally done, the Judge will reject it. This will cost you another three-six months.

Don’t bother looking for a divorce calculator in Ontario, it’s not going to work. Book a consultation with a divorce lawyer near you instead.

As you can see, spousal support calculators in Ontario are complex, and not easy to use.

Spousal Support Ontario Calculator

The court may use a previous year’s income to estimate the current income of the paying parent. They do this if they had an unusually poor or successful year the year before.

A family law judge might average the last three years of income. Further, they will use the reported income on the paying parent’s income tax returns if their income varies widely per year.

The court may include in the parent’s income all or part of the pre-tax income of a corporation. They will do this if the parent is a shareholder, director, or officer.

Therefore, they will adjust pre-tax corporate income to add back salaries, wages, or management fees to non-arm’s length parties.

Speak With A family lawyer

Ontario Spousal Support Agreement Advisory Guidelines

The court may attribute an income to a paying parent. They do this if the income on their income tax returns does not appear to show an accurate picture of their yearly income.

The court may impute an income to a party in the following circumstances:

Intentional under-employment;
Exemption from payment of income tax;
Payment of tax at an effective rate lower than that in Canada;
Diversion of income;
The parent’s failure to reasonably utilize the property to generate income;
The parent’s failure to make proper financial disclosure;
A situation in which a significant portion of income is paid from dividends or capital gains; or
The parent’s unreasonable deduction of expenses from income.

Calculate Spousal Support With Legal Advice

The court will use different methods depending on the circumstances. Therefore, they will determine a fair indication of the paying parent’s current income.

Do you still have questions about calculating income for the purposes of setting child support? What about an Ontario spousal support agreement?

Speak to a law firm that we can connect you with. You can reach out to us instead of trying to find a free spousal support calculator for Ontario online.

Author: Alistair Vigier is the CEO of ClearWay Law

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How to Use the Spousal Support Calculator in Ontario