Spousal Support Challenge Canada

• Spousal support should be paid for a limited amount of time, with some indexing for length of marriage, but never “indefinite” or perpetual. An end date for support should be a requirement, and a maximum possible time frame should be set.
• A divorce with financial obligations remaining in place indefinitely from one former spouse to another is not a divorce.
• No law should create a dependency of one person on another.
• Where it is not possible for an adult to make their own way, the state should provide a basic income for that person. Former spouses should never have to take on the role of private welfare providers.
• Remove the ability for a judge to override legal agreements such as separation agreements.
• Ensure that all post-marital assets such as gifts and inheritances are removed from the equation of spousal support; and protect any future spouse’s or partner’s assets from claims of a previous spouse.
• Abolish the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, and potentially incorporate some aspects of it — reflecting the principles above — into the Divorce Act.