Some Facts on Divorce

Although I am not contemplating divorce myself there have been several of my siblings who have. They have come to me with questions so I did a little research and the results are included in this article. I certainly have not covered all that pertains to separation and divorce but I think you will find some useful information here keep in mind that these are a part of Canadian laws. Of course getting proper legal guidance is of the utmost importance no matter where you live. If you have separated and are contemplating divorce there are many things to consider. Child support may be an issue then there is the custody of the children to consider, spousal support and property. It is a trying and upsetting time in anyone’s life going through a divorce but hopefully this article will help you gain some knowledge of the issues at hand.

Child support

If you are the custodian of the children then your spouse is compelled to pay you child support. If on the other hand your spouse is the custodian then you are compelled to pay child support for each child. The amount you pay will totally depend on the province you live in, the amount of children you have and how much money you earn. If your child encounters other things such as daycare, medical expenses, activities that they want to participate in and education could be an extra payment for you besides the child support. You will be responsible for most or part of these expenses. The court decides how much you will pay. You will have no control over how the support money is spent nor will it matter if your spouse denies you visitation. If your spouse makes more money than you it will make no difference in your support payments. Don’t assume that at the age of 18 your responsibilities will end, sometimes child support carries on long past this age depending on your child’s circumstances at the time. If you remarry you will still have to make your child support payments and they can’t be lowered due to your new family.

Child Custody

Child custody is given with the children in mind. They are awarded with the best interest of the child in mind. Nevertheless there are four types of child custody in the Canadian law. Sole custody where one parent alone takes custody of the children, joint custody where both parents share the custody of the children, shared custody which is very similar to joint custody except it goes from visitations to the child spending a determined time with both parents and split custody which the courts hesitate to grant due to the fact that the children are split up when one child goes with one parent and the other goes to the other parent.