Answering Common Family Law Questions

It may be easier in the short-term, but simply moving out is a bad strategy in a divorce as it may affect your claim for custody and/or access. It may appear that you “abandoned” your family responsibilities and left the children with the other spouse as the primary parent. 

Money from a gift or inheritance received by one spouse that goes to paying for the family home remains as part of the value of the house. This cannot be excluded from the value of the matrimonial home. If a gift or inheritance goes to a specific spouse and is kept separate, it can probably remain with the recipient if careful records are kept before and during marriage. If the money was received after marriage, proof must be provided to show that the money was given and also was kept separate from the spouse’s assets while married.

Courts are concerned with the best interest of the child. So, if the partner has been acting as a mother or father (parent) to someone else’s children, it may be required to pay child support.

Child support and access are separate issues. The court takes a dim view of withholding access to children. Courts are concerned with the best interests of the children. This means two things: 

1.Courts are in favor of ensuring that children spend time with both of their parents unless there are strong reasons against doing so. 

2.Court will not deprive a child of visits with a parent even if that parent is not paying child support.

In some ways it does, but in some ways it doesn’t. The issues of custody, access and child support are usually resolved the same way regardless of whether the spouses are actually married. The issue of spousal support will also be treated the same provided that the spouses have lived together for at least three years or if they have lived together for less than three years and have had/adopted a child together.

The process for dividing property in a common-law marriage is very different from the rules that apply in a traditional marriage. For example, there is no “equalization payment” to divide a couple’s assets at the end of a common-law relationship. 

No. Presence in the home does not dictate how assets are divided in divorce. Interests in the home comes from who is on title or from status as a party to a divorce case in which it is an asset.

As painful as being cheated on can be, family court will not increase support payment to punish bad behavior. A spouse being unfaithful is also not a factor used to determine the amount of spousal support payable.

This is not the case. As part of the divorce process the courts are mandated by family legislation to make custody and access awards that are in keeping with numerous factors. Primary among them is the “best interests” of the child. There is also a misconception that fathers can never get joint custody; this is also untrue.