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Difference between revisions of "The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines"
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The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (view source)
Revision as of 05:15, 2 April 2013
, 05:15, 2 April 2013no edit summary
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The Advisory Guidelines describes two basic formulas: one for when child support is not being paid (the ''Without Child Support Formula''), as might be the case if the couple have no children or if all of the children are adults and financially independent at the time of separation; and, one for when there is a legal obligation to pay child support (the ''With Child Support Formula''), whether child support is actually being paid or not. The main With Child Support Formula is designed for situations where the person receiving spousal support is also the person receiving child support. Since this isn't always the case and the amount of child support that's being paid isn't always the amount required by the Child Support Guidelines, the Advisory Guidelines has a few variations of the With Child Support Formula which will apply: | The Advisory Guidelines describes two basic formulas: one for when child support is not being paid (the ''Without Child Support Formula''), as might be the case if the couple have no children or if all of the children are adults and financially independent at the time of separation; and, one for when there is a legal obligation to pay child support (the ''With Child Support Formula''), whether child support is actually being paid or not. The main With Child Support Formula is designed for situations where the person receiving spousal support is also the person receiving child support. Since this isn't always the case and the amount of child support that's being paid isn't always the amount required by the Child Support Guidelines, the Advisory Guidelines has a few variations of the With Child Support Formula which will apply: | ||
*when custody of the children is shared (when the parents have the children for an equal or near-equal amount of time), | |||
*when custody of the children is split (when each parent has the primary residence of one or more children), | |||
*when the person receiving spousal support is the person paying child support, and | |||
*when all of the children for whom support is being paid are older than the age of majority. | |||
===The Without Child Support Formula=== | ===The Without Child Support Formula=== | ||
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The factors this formula uses are: | The factors this formula uses are: | ||
*the payor's gross income, | |||
*the recipient's gross income, | |||
*the length of time the parties lived together, and | |||
*the recipient's age. | |||
===The main With Child Support | ===The main With Child Support formula=== | ||
This formula is a lot more complex. In this formula, child support is taken out of the payor's gross income and the recipient's income, taxes are taken into account, and government benefits are added to the recipient's income. The reason why child support is deducted from the recipient's income is to reflect the costs that parent bears in raising the children. | This formula is a lot more complex. In this formula, child support is taken out of the payor's gross income and the recipient's income, taxes are taken into account, and government benefits are added to the recipient's income. The reason why child support is deducted from the recipient's income is to reflect the costs that parent bears in raising the children. | ||
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The factors this formula uses are: | The factors this formula uses are: | ||
#the payor's gross income | #the payor's gross income, | ||
#the recipient's gross income | #the recipient's gross income, | ||
#the length of time the parties lived together | #the length of time the parties lived together, | ||
#the recipient's age | #the recipient's age, | ||
#the number of children child support is payable for | #the number of children child support is payable for, and | ||
#the number of years until the youngest child starts and leaves full-time school. | #the number of years until the youngest child starts and leaves full-time school. | ||
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The Advisory Guidelines describe a few other formulas that apply when: | The Advisory Guidelines describe a few other formulas that apply when: | ||
#all of the children are over the age of majority | #all of the children are over the age of majority, | ||
#the parents have split custody of the children | #the parents have split custody of the children, | ||
#the parents have shared custody of the children | #the parents have shared custody of the children, | ||
#the children live with the payor | #the children live with the payor, or | ||
#the children are step-children to the payor. | #the children are step-children to the payor. | ||
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There are three ways the results can be restructured: | There are three ways the results can be restructured: | ||
#pay more spousal support each month, but for a shorter period of time | #pay more spousal support each month, but for a shorter period of time, | ||
#pay less each month, but pay for a longer period of time | #pay less each month, but pay for a longer period of time, or | ||
#pay the total amount payable over the period of the award in a single lump-sum. | #pay the total amount payable over the period of the award in a single lump-sum. | ||