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WHITBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 17, 1986 PAGE 27 New Act By NATALIE FRASER & MAX RAPOPORT Note: This statemnent of the iaw leotby necessity opinion. Persons relylng on It solely do so at their own rlsk and are advlsed to seeli s4vlce from a member of the practising legal profession. A new Act became law in Ontario on Marcb 1, 1986, making some important changes te family law. This new Act, is cailed the Family Law Act (FLA) and it replaces the Family Law Reform Act (FLUA). Tbis article deals witb family law in Ontario and focuses on the new law and bow it can affect you. The FLA defines a "ispouse"' as a man or woman wbo are married to each other. However, for support obligations the definition also includes people wbo are not married but have lived together con-. tinuously for tbree years or more, or have had or.adop- ted a child together. This means that many common law spouses can seek spousal support under tbe FLA. This was true under, the FLUA as well but com- mon law spouses had to live together for five years before qualifying for sup- port under that Act. This change is a good one because it places more eni- phasis on need while down- playing the relevance 0f a marriage certificate. A common law spouse who bas cohabited for three years is now entitled te sup- port on the basis of need, and the other spouse's ability te pay, the same as a married spouse., The FLA puts a two year, limit from the separation date for briging an action for spousal support. It Is& therefor important to start actions for spousal support uicklu because it is ver y Cuficuit te get around limitation periods. The rest of the FLA only a es to married people. hihardest in the family property sections. The FLA divides family property right down the line - one-haif to each spouse. The family property of un- married spouses is not covered by this. However, a common law spouse can, claim an fproperty area of1 law", but more dif the FLA. f Some could ari mon lavw coveredL dividing createdt example, lived witl years In could e everythinl person if property son 'suialn be improi protection this positi( The F scheme fo property1 ferent frci FLUA. Bi ail propei either spoi 0f marrial separatioti equaily b, ties. ItÉ dramatically changes family law interest in fami ly really happens. Each case other spouse that they do under the FLA. 1 through another is unique, and each has its not with the FLA to apply to that they can, law called "trust own problems that may not them. Such agreements are cases, grant awa ,this route is much fit exactly into the scheme usually made at the begin- against the provi: fficult tlian using created by the FLA. Once ning 0f the marriage or FLA in order to1 these problems emerge, relationship. It's hard to resuit. It is too eA unfair situations each party has to decide think of such things when point to prediel ise because com- what they really want, and romance rather than finan- judges will v spouses are not begin negotiating the kind ces is on one's minde but the discretion. by the scheme for of trade-offs that wiil be ac- price for not doing so can be The majorc family property ceptable to them. steep. family Iaw ir byte L. o As we've discussed, to The FLA can affect brough. in by ti ay pesonwhora divide family property un- spouses who are not that any finau h a soene for 15 der the FLA, everything is separating. For example, made by either si ith sone rrie thrown into the pot unless it when a spouse dies leaving the day of mari end up seeing was brought into the a wilI, the surviving spouse the day of separ ig go to the other marriage by a spouse. Un- can choose to either take be split equally b 1 ail the family der the old Act, the FLRA, under the will, or take the spouses. This ci was ini tlat per- whether or not something share that he would receive recognition thî ne. The FLA could had been brought into the under the FLA's division of women are worki ve ypovcigmarriage was not property scheme, as if* he the home and ai n for a person in significant; instead,' a was separating fromn the towards- financia !on. category of "non-family spouse who bas died. This with men. It cou assets" was protected from can have major effects on that the spouse' FLA creates a any division on separation existing wills; a spouse who side the home,1 'r dividing family of the spouses. Just what bas not been left at least 50 the other spouse that is quite dif- these "non-family assets" percent of the family income, is beingj )im that under the were often caused difficulty property may be able to -get as having equal asicaily any and and ended Up being litigated it anyway. Many spouses work outside the 1 Brty acquired by in the courts. This problemn should probably re-think Max Rapoport1 )use from the date is eliminated under the their wills because of these at the Whltby âge to the date of FLA's scheme of division of changes. - Shewan and' A ýn is divided family property. An important point to and Natalie Fras between the par- The FLA gives the family keep in mind is that judges student who wil does not matter home snecial treatment. It do have some, discretion law in Whitby in 1 wbose name the property is in, it nîl must be divided equally. For, example, if spouse A bas family proper- ty -of $20,000 and spouse B bas, $10,000, there is a total ,of $30,000 in family assets. Eacb spouse is entitled to $15,000, s0 spouse A must pay spouse B $5,000 to divide the family property equally. To determine family property, the money value of ail assets owned on the date of separation is added up. This incliffdes everything: homes, vehicles, cottages, stocks and bonds, business in- terests, money in a pension plan. There are very few exceptions. From this total, the amount of any, debts owned on the date of separation is deducted. The value of any assets brought Into the inarriage is also deducted, witýi the excep- tion of the .matrimonial hoftie. The fin!l sum after making ail these calculations is the sum wbicb determines how much spouse A must pay to spouse B to divide the family property equally. 0f course, this is a sim- plified version of what is difficult from- other u family property because even if it was brought into the marraige by one spouse,- it is not excluded from equal division, and' the- other spouse gets one haîf of its value. If a person issu thinking of using his- savings to, buy a home that: will become the family- home after marriage, it would be better to wait until- after the marriage to buy.: For example, spouse A- has $100,000 in savings before marriage. Before- getting married, he uses it- to buy a* house. That house: becomes the family home after he marries Spouse B.: Then A and B split up. Un-- der the FLA, spouse B will get $50,000, being one-half the value 0f the home. -. However, if' spouse A had bought the bouse after- marrying spouse B instead- 0f before, spouse A could= deduct the savings he- brought into the marriage from the value of the house- and have family property of zero. Spouse A would flot: have to pay anything to- spouse B! A spouse can always en-.- ter into a contract with the- ccountont's Supplies sk Accesso<ies 4YLOWPRICES- SAVEwdi fower heatingcoasts. 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