Spousal Relationships | PLEA

Each spouse remains their own person in the spousal relationship and generally has the legal right to go about their life, independent of their spouse. People ... Saskatchewan’ssource forfreelegalinformation. 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Comprehensiveinformationonfamilylawincludinginformationondivorce,dividingfamilypropertyandspousalsupportcanbefoundonfamilylaw.plea.org.ThissitealsohasaFormWizardandanAgreementMakertoassistindividualswhoaretryingtoresolvetheirfamilylawissueswithoutthehelpofalawyer. Peopleinspousalrelationshipsdonotgiveupanyoftheirbasiclegalrightsandfreedomsuponenteringaspousalrelationship.Eachspouseremainstheirownpersoninthespousalrelationshipandgenerallyhasthelegalrighttogoabouttheirlife,independentoftheirspouse.Peopleinaspousalrelationshipdo,however,havecertainrightsandobligationsinrelationtotheotherspouseandanychildrenoftherelationship. Separation Acourtorderorotherlegaldocumentisnotrequiredforspousestoseparate.Aseparationsimplyoccurswhenspousesstoplivingtogetherasacouple.Thedateofseparationisimportantforafewreasons.Forexample,marriedcouplescangetdivorcedafteroneyearofseparation.Unmarriedspouseswhowanttoapplytothecourttodividefamilypropertymustdosowithin24monthsoftheirseparation,whilemarriedcouplescanmaketheapplicationanytimebeforetheyaredivorced. Divorce Acourtapplicationisrequiredtoobtainadivorce.Theremustbelegalgroundsforadivorce.Themostcommongroundisseparationforatleastoneyearbutadulteryorcrueltycanalsobeusedasgrounds.Theprocedurefordivorcealoneisfairlysimpleifbothspousesagreetothedivorce.Themostdifficultmattersforolderspousesusuallyinvolvethedivisionoffamilypropertyandspousalsupport.Whenanapplicationfordivorceismade,theseothermattersareusuallydealtwithatthesametime.Couplesshouldnotfinalizeadivorcewithoutfirsttalkingtoalawyeraboutfamilypropertyandspousalsupport.Acourtorderfordivorceendsthemarriageandleavesthespousesfreetoremarry.However,spousesmaystillhaveobligationstooneanotherthatdonotsimplydisappearwithadivorce. DividingFamilyProperty Marriedspousesmustmakeanapplicationfordivisionoffamilypropertybeforetheyaredivorced.Unmarriedspousesmustmaketheapplicationwithin24monthsfollowingtheirseparation. Saskatchewanlawrecognizesthatbothspousescontributetoraisingchildren,managingthehouseholdandfinancialsupportoverthecourseoftheirrelationship.Generallyspeaking,marriedspousesandcoupleswhohavelivedtogetherforatleasttwoyearsareeachentitledtoanequalshareoftheirfamilyproperty,includingthefamilyhome,pensionsandRRSPs,regardlessofwhosenametheyareheldin. Thevalueofpropertyacquiredbeforethespousalrelationshipbegan,exceptthefamilyhome,isexemptunlessthecourtordersotherwise.Thismeansthatthevalueofthatpropertyatthetimethespousalrelationshipbeganwouldnotbedividedbetweenthespouses.However,anyincreaseinthevaluesincethattimewouldbesubjecttodivisionbetweenthespouses.Thiscanbeanimportantconsiderationinsecondmarriagesorwhereafirstmarriagehappenslaterinlife.Thefamilyhomeistreateddifferently.Generallyspeaking,thefullvalueofthefamilyhomewillbedividedequallyunlessitwouldbeunfairandunjusttodoso.Thismaymeanthatinsomecasesahomethatwasownedsolelybyonespousebeforetherelationshipbeganwillbedividedequallybetweenthespouses.Thecourtwillonlyconsideranevendivisionofthefamilyhomeasunfairifthereareextraordinarycircumstances.Otherfamilypropertyisalsodividedequallyunlessitwouldbeunfairtodoso.However,whendealingwithfamilypropertyotherthanthefamilyhome,thecourtwillalsoconsiderfactorssuchas...howlongthecouplehaslivedtogetherwhenthepropertywasacquiredhowthepropertywasacquiredtaxliabilitiesifthepropertyhastobesoldthevalueoffamilypropertyoutsideofSaskatchewandebtsofthespousesanyinterestthatanotherpersonhasintheproperty Individingfamilyproperty,thecourtwillnotconsiderimproperorimmoralconductofthepartiesunlesstheconductimpactsthefamilyproperty.Forexample,thecourtwillalwaysconsiderwhetheraspousehasbeenwastingfamilyproperty,givingitawayorsellingittoavoidhavingitdivided,butotherbehaviourthatdoesn’taffectfamilypropertyisnotconsideredbythecourt. SpousalSupport Ifacoupleseparateordivorce,thereisnoautomaticrighttospousalsupport.However,marriedspouses-orindividualswhohavelivedtogetherasspousesforatleasttwoyears-mayberequiredtopaysupporttotheotherspouse.Theneedforsupportandtheabilitytopaysupportareimportantfactors.Whendecidingwhethertoorderspousalsupport,courtswillconsiderfactorssuchas...thefinancialmeans,needsandcircumstancesofeachspousethelengthofthespousalrelationshiptheroleeachspousehadduringtherelationshipandtheeffectoneachanycourtorderoragreementregardingspousalsupportOnceitisdeterminedthataspousalsupportorderisappropriate,anamountstillneedstobedetermined.Spousalsupportamountsmayvarywidelybasedonmanyofthesamefactorsusedtodeterminewhetherasupportorderisappropriateinthefirstplace.Thereare,however,SpousalSupportAdvisoryGuidelines(SSAG)inplacethatmayhelpthecourtorthepartiesthemselvestosimplifydetermininganamountoratleastprovideanappropriatestartingpoint.Spousalsupportguidelinesareadvisoryonly,notmandatory.Theyincludeformulasthatusefactorssuchastheincomeofbothspousesandthelengthoftherelationshiptocalculatetheamountofspousalsupport. 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