The Divorce Act 1985, The Family Law Act of Alberta 2005, Spousal Support Guidelines 2008 together with the decisions in, Moge v. Moge, 1992 and Bracklow v. Bracklow, 1999, provide the legal framework for spousal support in Alberta. Spousal support is an automatic right, and it is not a given. Before the amount and duration of spousal support are determined, entitlement to support must be established.

 Before the amount and duration of support are decided, entitlement to the support must be established. The grounds for entitlement of spousal support claims may be compensatory or non-compensatory. Compensatory basis of spousal support claims refers to the economic disadvantage resulting from the marriage. Non-compensatory basis of spousal support broadly refers to economic hardship resulting from the breakdown of the marriage. It may also be awarded if, as a result of the marriage breakdown, a spouse's standard of living declines significantly from the standard they were used to during the marriage. 

 In deciding spousal support under the Divorce Act, the court will consider factors such as the duration of the parties' cohabitation/marriage and marriage responsibilities. 

The court will also consider other spouses' legal obligations, such as the extent to which any other persons living with the spouse contribute towards household expenses and thereby increases the ability of that spouse or partner to provide support. Some of the other factors that court has considered include health, education/training, and work experience, income and earning capacity, age, and duty to become self-sufficient. Determining entitlement to spousal support can be complicated, contact Onosen Mike-Ifeta at 587-566-6525 or email at onosen@archlawoffice.ca for the right legal advice.

Moge v. Moge, 1992 & Bracklow v. Bracklow, 1999

In Moge, the court adopted the compensatory approach and the purpose of spousal support as the equal distribution of the economic advantages or disadvantages caused due to the marriage between the spouses. But this approach requires evidence of loss of earning capacity due to marriage, which was challenging to implement. Subsequently, in Bracklow, the court expanded the earlier approach to include the non-compensatory spousal support., however; ambiguity persisted due to the lack of clarity in the definition of "need." The spousal support advisory guidelines are a response to the concerns of the lack of clarity in the definition of "need."

Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines

The guidelines were drafted to bring more certainty, consistency, fairness, and efficiency to the Federal Divorce Act and the Family Act and to assist in determinations of spousal support within the current legal framework. The guidelines are used as a useful tool in determining spousal support. The guidelines adopted income sharing as the method of determining spousal support. Two basic formulas were constructed, i.e., with child support formula and without child support formula for determining spousal support. Though not law, guidelines form the basis for decision making and determining support amount by the courts when there is an overlap between federal and provincial legislation.

If you are currently going through a separation or a divorce or you would like to a second opinion regarding your matter, I am available to assist you. Contact Onosen Mike-Ifeta at 587-566-6525 or email at onosen@archlawoffice.ca.