Dividing Property and Debt in Family Law Matters: Difference between revisions
From Clicklaw Wikibooks
Dividing Property and Debt in Family Law Matters (view source)
Revision as of 17:01, 29 March 2013
, 29 March 2013→Dividing Property and Debt Unequally
| Line 279: | Line 279: | ||
Under s. 95(1) of the ''Family Law Act'', the court may divide family property or family debt unequally, but only if an equal division would be "significantly unfair". It's hard to say what "significantly unfair" means, because the ''Divorce Act'' doesn't use this phrase and the old ''Family Relations Act'' only talked about things that are just ''unfair'' and things that are ''grossly unfair''. It seems reasonable to assume that under the new ''Family Law Act'', something that is "significantly unfair" is ''more unfair'' than something which is just "unfair" yet is ''less unfair'' than something that is "grossly unfair". | Under s. 95(1) of the ''Family Law Act'', the court may divide family property or family debt unequally, but only if an equal division would be "significantly unfair". It's hard to say what "significantly unfair" means, because the ''Divorce Act'' doesn't use this phrase and the old ''Family Relations Act'' only talked about things that are just ''unfair'' and things that are ''grossly unfair''. It seems reasonable to assume that under the new ''Family Law Act'', something that is "significantly unfair" is ''more unfair'' than something which is just "unfair" yet is ''less unfair'' than something that is "grossly unfair". | ||
Section 95(2) provides a list of factors that the court may take into account in deciding whether an equal division of property and debt would be | Section 95(2) provides a list of factors that the court may take into account in deciding whether an equal division of property and debt would be significantly unfair: | ||
<blockquote><tt>(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Supreme Court may consider one or more of the following:</tt></blockquote> | <blockquote><tt>(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Supreme Court may consider one or more of the following:</tt></blockquote> | ||
| Line 294: | Line 294: | ||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) any other factor, other than the consideration referred to in subsection (3), that may lead to significant unfairness.</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | <blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) any other factor, other than the consideration referred to in subsection (3), that may lead to significant unfairness.</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | ||
Under s. 95(3), the court can also take into account | |||
(3) The Supreme Court may consider also the extent to which the financial means and earning capacity of a spouse have been affected by the responsibilities and other circumstances of the relationship between the spouses if, on making a determination respecting spousal support, the objectives of spousal support under section 161 [objectives of spousal support] have not been met. | <blockquote><tt>(3) The Supreme Court may consider also the extent to which the financial means and earning capacity of a spouse have been affected by the responsibilities and other circumstances of the relationship between the spouses if, on making a determination respecting spousal support, the objectives of spousal support under section 161 [objectives of spousal support] have not been met.</tt></blockquote> | ||
====Dividing Excluded Property==== | ====Dividing Excluded Property==== | ||
