A persistent irritant for spouses obliged to pay spousal support is the recipient spouse who refuses to work.
For the many payors who continue to work hard as they age, the thought of a former spouse receiving support for the privilege of not working makes them see red.
When deciding entitlement, amount and duration of spousal support payments, the Divorce Act requires judges to consider four objectives: the advantages or disadvantages arising from the marriage or its breakdown; the apportionment between spouses of the financial consequences arising from caring for a child, over and above child support; the relief of economic hardship arising from marriage breakdown; and in so far as is practicable, the promotion of the economic self-sufficiency of each spouse within a reasonable period of time.
To read Torkin Manes lawyer Laurie H. Pawlitza's latest column in the National Post, click here.
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