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Archive for the ‘spousal support’ Category

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Vancouver BC Spousal Support Lawyers and Long BC Marriages and Variation and Cancellation Law Alert

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

BC SPOUSAL SUPPORT LAWYERS-Mandarin and Cantonese Speaking Legal Department

As medium to high net worth BC family law and divorce lawyers with 4 offices in BC and 10 lawyers we handle dozens of  Vancouvert  and BC long term marriage spousal support cases each year. We handle interim and permanent spousal support cases and also deal with variation of support to increase, decrease, cancel, extend or shorten the payments. One of the thorny issues we face as spousal support lawyers in long term marriages is: what happens when parties who were subject to a support order before retirement reach the age of retirement or when the parties reach their 70′s and 80′s? Should they begin to use their assets to live on? Is support intended to ensure one spouse maintains or increases their assets? How long is support to be paid-is it “cradle to grave security”? What does a paying spouse have to show to have support reduced or cancelled? The Supreme Court of Canada released to key decisions today that indicate support will not be cancelled absent a clear showing that a big or “material change has occurred that renders the initial decision no longer appropriate.

Remember the spousal support guidelines state that in marriages in excess of 20 years and marriages where the age of the receiving spouse and length of relationship exceed 65 support is to be indefinite subject to variation if there is a “material change” or review.

APPEALS ALLOWED BY RECEIVING SPOUSES TO CONTINUE THEIR SUPPORT

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DRAMATIC BC COMMON LAW AND MARRIAGE LIKE RELATIONSHIP SPOUSAL SUPPORT CHANGES

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

"Are You Ready To Be A Parent And Pay Spousal Support?" asks MacLean

The BC family lawyers at the MacLean Family Law Group want unmarried persons, couples in short term, marriage like, or common law relationships and those who may simply be dating or having casual sexual relations to think very carefully about whether they want to be parents early on in a relationship. The stakes and consequences are now even bigger than before.

Besides the huge consequences and joys of raising a child after a short term relationship you may well face a spousal support obligation that may last until the child has graduated from high school or perhaps until at least the child is in Grade 1.

The new BC FAMILY LAW ACT legislation removes the 2 year time limit for being in a marriage like relationship that a couple had to have passed before spousal support liability was triggered. We now expect to see a flurry of arguments over whether a couple really was in a marriage like relationship or not given the short period of time they were together.

  • For example what if a couple moves in together for a month and are in a hot and heavy relationship that results in pregnancy and then they break up. Obviously, child support should be paid but is this a case where long term spousal support should be payable?
  • Conversely, we can’t have a spouse breaking up from a short term relationship upon learning of pregnancy simply to avoid any liability to pay spousal support to a parent who faces economic disadvantage from lost career and educational opportunities as a result of being a primary caregiver.
  • What should happen if both parent’s share equally the duty to raise a child.  This author thinks this is a case where no support should be payable. What do you think?
  • Finally, we expect to see more spousal support claims from spouse’s involvement with someone other than their traditional “spouse” as a result off a child being born from a serious affair.

I have highlighted the new legislation for you and I want you to think hard about the impact of this new legislation on your new relationship!

The legislation is expected to be law within the next 18 months if it passes.

Spouses and relationships between spouses
3 (1) A person is a spouse for the purposes of this Act if the person

(a) is married to another person, or
(b) has lived with another person in a marriage-like relationship, and
(i) has done so for a continuous period of at least 2 years, or
(ii) except in Parts 5 [Property Division] and 6 [Pension Division], has a child with the other person.

Call us toll free across BC to discuss your options at 1-877-602-9900 or meet with us at any of our 4 offices in Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna or Fort St John BC.

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Posted in Blog Articles, General, spousal support | 1 Comment »

SURREY BC SPOUSAL SUPPORT LAWYER AND THE NEEDS OF A SPOUSE AND ENTITLEMENT TO COMPENSATORY SUPPORT IN LONG BC MARRIAGES

Monday, October 31st, 2011

BC Spousal Support Lawyer Lorne MacLean QC

Saunders v. Saunders, 2011 NSCA 81 is an interesting Nova Scotia Appellate decision that imputed income to a wife who was underemployed and that also focused on her needs and her entitlement to a comfortable lifestyle after a long marriage on both compensatory as well as needs based spousal support principles. Oddly, there is no mention of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines in the decision but the amount which resulted in a rough 60/40 split of income after 33 years falls within the range.

What is interesting in this case is support was reduced from $9,100 per month to $7,500 after factoring in the concept of imputed income for the wife working for less income than she could earn with proper effort, (although even the reduced award exceeded her budget substantially). It also provides a current update of the theories of needs based spousal support (non-compensatory) as well as compensatory spousal support for the economic disadvantage Ms. Saunders suffered as a result of the long marriage, her role in it and the fact she suffered as a result of the end of the marriage when she lost access to share in the income of her husband.

The Court of Appeal noted that the trial judge failed to explain why he was not imputing a greater amount of income to Ms. Saunders in light of his findings that she was capable of earning more income and there was no reason for her not to be working full time.  By failing to impute income to Ms. Saunders, in keeping with her capacities and abilities or at least failing to explain why he did not do so, the Court of Appeal held the trial judge was in error.

The Court of Appeal performed a nice analysis of what spouses can expect to happen in a spousal support case that comes before the courts or what a fairly negotiated settlement will focus on.

The Court of Appeal restated the objectives courts are to use to fairly award spousal support at:

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Vancouver Child Support Guidelines and BC Spousal Support Lawyers

Sunday, October 23rd, 2011

MacLean family Law Group's New Vancouver Office


As British Columbia’s largest and most diverse family law, Vancouver child support guidelines and BC spousal support law firm with 10 lawyers and 4 offices located in Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna and Fort St. John BC we have handled hundreds of family law support claims over the past 28 years.

A parent’s annual income for payment of child support is presumptively determined by using the sources of income set out under the heading “Total Income” of the T1 General Income Tax Return, with specified adjustments required by the Schedules to the Child Support Guidelines. However, to simply look at “total income” on Line 150 of a payor’s previous year’s tax return may result in an unfair determination of the income actually available for payment of child support. The tax returns of the payor may not be the most recent or accurate information on this issue. It is important to scrutinize each source of income to determine whether adjustments must be made or if more information is required.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to impute income to the payor additional to that declared by them for tax purposes. For example, if the payor parent is a shareholder, director or officer of a company, and as a result has control over the amount of income payable to him or her, the Court can attribute to them all or part of the pre-tax income of the company in the calculation of Child Support Guideline income for payment of child support, or an amount commensurate with the payor’s services to the company provided that this does not exceed the pre-tax income of the company (section 18 of the Guidelines).
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温哥華和列治文說廣東話和普通話的家庭和移民律師事務所 604-602-9000

Friday, October 21st, 2011

温哥華和列治文說廣東話和普通話的家庭和移民律師事務所
MacLean家庭律師事務所提供離婚以及BC的家庭資產，婚姻財產，家族企業或任何其他資產劃分的策 略規模。我們是全加拿大西部其中最優秀和最大的家庭律師事務所，擁有將近三十年的經驗為中等至高淨值的客戶及家庭提供服務。目前總共有四所分公司， 分別在 Vancouver, Surrey, Fort St. John, 和 Kelowna. 歡迎您同我們聯絡:1-877-602-9900。Maclean 家庭律師事務所擁有一組多元化的律師，能以英文，普通話，廣東話，波斯語，和印度語與您溝通。

我們所處理的中等至高淨值，信託，收入，及專業實踐的案件包括：

- 婚前和婚姻協議，以創建一個單獨的財產制度來保護資產;
- 全權及或然性信託利益，如配偶及子女的家庭資產及收入來源
- 分析財務報告，用多種收益標準估價一個被清算企業，盈利企業
- 估值日期的爭議，分居後財產升值或貶值，或財產已被轉讓或處理
- 特別股，因為許多人不理解有投票權的股票與沒有投票權的股票之間的區別，兩者俱有不同的價值和享有不同的權利
- 重視股票交易員及其他專業人士的營業帳簿
- 分割退休金數額及一次性退休金的估價值，而非不恰當地採用比其低得多的分攤值來決定其實際價值
- 糾正非正常交易付款來計算審判前後配偶各自的標準收入及公司的利潤分割
- 分析公司或專業流動資金, 因為這影響到贍養費和均等費的支付

不管您打算是否要立即啟動索賠，重大的家庭財產分割政策變化即將生效 。請趕緊來電讓我們幫助您。

普通話服務請同 Nancy Chen 聯絡。 聯絡電話： （604） 602－9000, 電郵： nchen@bcfamilylaw.ca
廣東話服務請同Jennifer Lin聯絡。聯絡電話： （604）602－9000，電郵：jlin@bcfamilylaw.ca

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Posted in Blog Articles, Division of Property, Separation Agreements, spousal support | No Comments »

KELOWNA FAMILY LAWYERS AND VANCOUVER BC IMPUTED AND ATTRIBUTED SUPPORT INCOME LAWYERS

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Kelowna and Vancouver BC Family Lawyer Lorne MacLean


As British Columbia family lawyers, we handle dozens of Vancouver spousal support and BC child support applications and trials at each of our 4 offices across British Columbia located in downtown Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna and Fort St. John British Columbia. Contact us

Imputed or attributed income is often raised in these BC spousal support and Vancouver spousal support cases. Attributed income is income that will be added to a spouse’s actual income if they are underemployed or refusing to work to their full capacity. Attribution of income is often added to  paying spouses incomes in child support cases but is also added to receiving spouses in cases where spousal support is an issue or where there is shared custody or special and extraordinary expenses that are shared in proportion to each spouse’s income.

We also deal with cases where parties move on after their separation or divorce and have new families and new obligations. The issue of imputed income can also arise in a 1st family context if one parent is required or wants to stay at home to parent an infant child.  Sometimes this issue will arise in the context of a child custody case where one parent says they should be given custody because they are not working and are staying at home full-time for the child. Courts will need to consider if it is appropriate to allow a parent to do that in the case of the custody dispute and on the issue of spousal support for the parent who argues they should be allowed to stay at home to look after the child.

When new family obligations arise the courts are asked to weigh the liabilities of the paying spouse to their 1st family while at the same time considering the 2nd family must be supported as well. The weight of case law is in favour of the 1st family not suffering.

But a new BC Court of Appeal case addressed what reduction if any should be made to a paying mother’s child support payments after she gave birth to a newborn and she went on maternity leave.

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BC Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines and How They Work- BC Spousal Support Lawyers at MacLean Law Group

Sunday, September 11th, 2011

Subreen Bedi Punjabi Speaking Surrey and Okanagan Family Law, ICBC and Immigration Lawyer

As Vancouver Spousal Support lawyers with BC spousal support law and family law offices in Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna and Fort St. John British Columbia we know that- how much spousal support should be paid and how long spousal support will be paid- is one of the most emotional issues clients face at the time of divorce and marriage breakdown.

Have you ever asked yourself the following questions:

  •  Will my spousal support always remain the same?
  • Does child support effect my spousal support payment?
  • If my children become financially independent adults, will my spousal support payment still remain the same?

 

The MacLean Family Law Group believes a better understanding of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines will help you answer these questions.

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LUMP SUM BC SPOUSAL SUPPORT AND LUMP SUM CHILD MAINTENANCE LAWYERS

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

 

Divorce Lawyer, Lorne MacLean Wins at the Calgary Registry of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

As British Columbia spousal and child support lawyers we are often asked when a BC lump sum spousal and child support award will be made. It is important to note that child support payments whether lump sum or periodic are not tax deductible. Spousal support payments are tax-deductible if paid on a periodic basis and on most occasions this will mean monthly payments are being made. Lump-sum spousal support payments are not tax deductible and so it is important when deciding whether to settle for a lump sum payment or when asking for or opposing a lump-sum payment in court that the lump-sum payment reflects the lack of tax deductibility as well as the fact that the money is being paid up front so that a correct figure is reached for settlement or by way of a court decision.

Lump sum support payments  are rarely made in British Columbia and the recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision in the case of Wu v. Sun [2011] BCJ No. 914 considered factors that justified the award of a lump sum spousal award in concluding that an award of $500,000-$750,000 was an appropriate award to give to a wife from the net sale proceeds of a family home. In coming to the conclusion that a lump sum award of this magnitude was appropriate the court noted:
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Kelowna Family Asset Valuation Lawyer, Vancouver and Fort St John BC Family Property and Business Asset Division Lawyers

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Lorne MacLean Business Asset Lawyer-New BC Family Relations Act Property Changes Coming!


MacLean Family Law Group provides divorce and BC family asset, marital property and family business or “other asset” division strategies. We have been handling medium to high net worth family property division cases for nearly 30 years and have one of the best and largest family law firms in Western Canada with four offices located in downtown Vancouver, South Surrey, Kelowna and Fort St John, BC. You can call us at any office or toll free at 1-877-602-9900. We speak English, Cantonese, 我們為客户瓣理離婚手續, 財產分配， 小孩撫養權 Punjabi, Farsi and Hindi.溫哥華離婚律師

Medium to high net worth asset, company, professional practice, trust and income cases that we handle include:

-prenuptial and marriage agreements to create a separate property regime and protect assets;
-discretionary and contingent trust interests as family assets and sources of income for spouses and their children;
-financial statement analysis to value a business on a liquidation, going concern through multiple of earnings basis;
-valuation dates issues where assets go up and down in value after separation or where assets have been disposed of;
-special shares as many people do not understand that voting and non voting shares have different values and rights:
-valuing a book of business for stock brokers and other professionals;
-split pension amounts and lump sum pension valuations to detertmine the real value as opposed to improperly using much lower contribution values;
-non-arms-length payments correction for calculating each spouse’s guideline incomes and strategies to divide company profits before and after trial;
-analysis of company or professional working capital as it impacts support and equalization payments;
-imputed income from employment for both the paying and receiving spouse and how capital is used based on cases following the Leskun, Supreme Court of Canada case Mr. MacLean represented the husband in.

Significant family property division changes are due to take effect immediately and different strategies apply to whether you want to start a claim immediately or not. Don’t be in the dark-call us.

Mr. MacLean was one of the first family lawyers in BC to seek restraining Orders to divide profits from a family business before trial in half rather than merely seeking spousal support in a much lower amount. Mr. MacLean also successfully reapportioned a business in front of the husband and business owner 75/25 in his favour-a rarity! If you need aggressive and focused stratgeies in cases involving claiming or defending a division of these assets call us immediately at any of our 4 offices throughout British Columbia. Delay only makes things worse in many cases.

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Section 7 Child Support Guidelines Special Expenses and Their Impact On BC Spousal Support Amounts

Monday, May 30th, 2011

MacLean Warns That Section 7 Child Support Expenses Impact Spousal Support Amounts


We often have new BC spousal support clients come to us after they have unwisely agreed to a spousal support payment that does not accord with a proper calculation under the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines. The proper calculation of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines really does require a lawyer who focuses on BC family law spousal support and Vancouver alimony cases to properly input and analyze the calculations. Call us at 604-602-9000 if you have a concern on what the proper amount is and if you need help to ensure no mistake is made in your calculation of child support and spousal support.

The Federal Government SSAG website itself even cautions users as follows:

Section 7 expenses and the respective parental contributions have a critical impact upon the spousal support range generated by the formulas. By definition, any payment of s. 7 expenses will reduce the range, even for those expenses like child care that offer some tax break. Further, the correct parental contributions must also be input, especially if the contributions are fixed without respect to the payment of spousal support or fixed on some basis other than incomes after spousal support.

Surprising, lawyers and courts often fail to take s. 7 expenses into account in calculating the spousal support range, with the payor incorrectly paying more spousal support as a result. For just a few cases where s. 7 expenses were not considered, (there are more), see Morey v. Morey, [2009] O.J. No. 1160, 2009 CarswellOnt 1502 (S.C.J.); Boju v. Corr, [2009] O.J. No. 443, 2009 CarswellOnt 563 (S.C.J.); Southcott v. Southcott, [2009] B.C.J. No. 1143, 2009 BCSC 760.

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