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Archive for the ‘Success Stories’ Category

BC Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines-SSAG- BC Support Success Story for MacLean Family Law Group-Pre Tax Profits Used For High Support

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

Lorne MacLean Vancouver BC spousal support guideline award and SSAG spousal support guidelines lawyer


Lorne MacLean BC SSAG support and spousal support guidelines lawyer, using the with child support spousal support advisory guideline formula, recently succeeded in obtaining a lucrative BC Spousal Support Advisory guideline ” SSAG” and BC child support guidelines award on behalf of his client, the wife, in a complex and high net worth BC spousal support guidelines and BC child support guidelines proceeding where a BC child support award of $8771 retroactive for 13 months (plus private school and extracurricular fess of roughly $3000 monthly) and a BC spousal support advisory guidelines award of $17714 was ordered meaning the combined monthly payments of spousal support advisory guidelines support and child support approached $30,000 per month. The award ranks as one of the highest court BC spousal support awards in BC since the SSAG spousal support calculations came into effect. Mr. MacLean succeeded in having the court use all of the companies pre-tax profits for the SSAG calculation based on BCCA law from the cases of Klukas and Teja, defeating the husband’s spousal support claim that double dipping applied to BC spousal support and a lower BC spousal and BC child support payment should thus be paid, blocking any $350,000 cap argument where BC spousal support is not increased on high salaries above $350,000 per year and finally in having the child support portion of the order made retroactive so a large lump sum payment was received for the children’s benefit. We were delighted to have achieved such a generous BC spousal support and BC child support result for our BC family law client.

For privacy reasons the case is referred to as A.R.J. v. Z.S.J. [2009] B.C.J. No. 2393, B.C.S.C. The brief facts are:
-Married for 16 years.
-Two children.
-Husband, a surgeon, was sole director and equal shareholder in his professional services corporation.
-A personal services corporation unlike a company involved in a riskier or more capital intensive maunufacturing business, generally speaking, does not require significant injections of capital in order to operate.
-Citing our Appellate case authority Mr Justice Savage determined that in the absence of legitimate calls on the pre-tax corporate income of a company, children and a spouse are entitled to support based on the full income available to the payor spouse.
-The double-dipping argument was rejected as it was the income earning capacity of the payor that gave rise to the assets in the company and this argument was not valid.
-No $350,000 cap would be used for the husband’s income which would have drastically lowered the wife’s support.

We look forward to helping high net worth spouses involved in complex family law cases.

A Happy Client gives Lorne MacLean a Great Birthday Cake

SMART BC DIVORCE TIPS # 6 WINNING BC SPOUSAL SUPPORT AND BC SPOUSAL SUPPORT ADVISORY GUIDELINES VIDEO RELEASED

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

BC Spousal Support and the applicability of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines for separated spouses is a complex and highly contentious area. Lorne MacLean BC Family Law and BC Divorce Lawyer provides crucial tips to help you avoid common BC spousal support and BC Spousal Support Advisory Guideline mistakes. Do not waive BC spousal support and maintenance or fail to consider the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines on quantum and duration of support, on the with and without child support formula, on attributed income in disputed spousal support cases, on shared and split custody and on what happens when one party remarries or repartners.

WATCH THE WINNING BC SPOUSAL SUPPORT VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

BC FAMILY LAW HIGH NET WORTH SPOUSAL SUPPORT AND BC FAMILY LAW ASSET DIVISION 2009 UPDATE

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Lorne MacLean, high net worth BC divorce lawyer and his BC MacLean Family Law Group handle many high BC spousal support income and high BC family asset net worth cases and recently obtained a combined BC child and spousal support award of almost $30,000 per month. Many high net worth BC family asset cases not surprisingly involve high BC spousal support income as well. Until recently it had been thought that a BC high net worth family asset award to a spouse of perhaps 3 to 4 million dollars would mean the BC spouse with a lower income would not be entitled to spousal support as they would be receiving a generous award of family assets which could be used to generate income and as well the capital could be slowly used up as well over the lifetime of the spouse. The recent BCCA case of Chutter has turned this idea upside down.

An older Supreme Court of Canada case called MOGE held that the longer the duration of a marriage the greater the presumption that equal standards of living for both separated households at the end of the marriage. This principle along the Spousal Support Guidelines and the DIvorce Act’s three part test for awarding support being:

1. contractual -a marriage or separation agreement exists;

2. need and ability to pay-think Robin Hood -take from the rich and give to the poor;and

3. compensatory- think opportunities given up by lower income spouse as a result of being a homemaker including raising of children means their income is less than it could have been without these sacrifices;

has led the the Court of Appeal in Chutter to award a wife who received 4 million of assets with an a support award of $2800 a month compared to a spousal support advisory guideline range of over $4000 to over $5000 per month.

The question remains if 4 million of assets reduces support to less than 60 percent of the mid -range of support under the guidelines, what amount makes spousal support unneccessary and at what amount below $4 million does spousal support start to be reduced below the guidelines. Other arguments that arise in these cases are consideration of risk and income tax on assets each party keeps and what notional investment income should be attributed to the assets each party receives. Should a business asset that one spouse receives as part of their share of property have the income it produces excluded form spousal support considerations? Call us to find out your rights in this complex area.

The lengthy extracts from the case are attached.
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Client Success Stories

Thursday, January 27th, 2005
CASE STUDY #1
Y o u n g V. Y o u n g 1 9 9 3

In a landmark case that established the modern rules for how Canadian courts decide custody access and guardianship cases, Lorne MacLean was the lead counsel representing Mrs. Young before the Supreme Court of Canada. The outcome of the case was highly favorable to Mrs. Young, awarding her sole custody and guardianship, a 100 percent reapportionment of the matrimonial home in her favour, substantial spousal and child support, and special costs against her husband, who had lied during the divorce proceedings. Working alone during the 12 day trial and with just one associate in Ottawa, opposite a team of several attorneys, Lorne MacLean drew the attention of the media and federal government.
File No.: 22227. 1993: January 25, 26; 1993: October 21.

CASE STUDY #2
I n n o v a t i o n S o l u t i o n s

In a groundbreaking pre-trial case, Lorne MacLean established a presumption that a wife could achieve the equalization of incomes in long-term marriages. Employing an innovative strategy that took a claim to a presumptive 50-50 interest in profits from a lucrative family business, he was able to protect the wife’s interest with respect to substantial business assets and the business’ subsequent profits.

CASE STUDY #3
D e c i s i o n i n F a v o u r o f t h e H u s b a n d

Lorne MacLean and an associate addressed a complex business division case that included valuation and tax issues involved with the family’s substantial assets. With Mr. MacLean acting for the husband, the case resulted in a rare award of reapportionment of the family business made 75/25 in favour of the husband. Lorne MacLean also won the client a relatively limited spousal support commitment considering the duration of the marriage.

CASE STUDY #4
C u s t o d y a n d S p e c i a l C o s t s

Shared custody awards can be rare for divorcing husbands, but Lorne MacLean obtained full shared custody for his client, although the client is employed full time and his wife is at home full time. In addition, no spousal support was awarded and child support awarded in an amount of only one-third of guidelines. The husband was also awarded "special costs" – payment of legal fees he incurred – as Lorne MacLean proved the wife had lied during the proceedings.


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