The highly rated* Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers at MacLean Law handle cases of later in life divorces called “the grey divorce” or “silver separations”. Our award winning family law firm that has 5 offices across BC. Now, founder Lorne N. MacLean, QC handles select high net worth and complex property and spousal support disputes from our downtown Calgary office.
*(Top Choice Award (2014, 2016, 2017), top rated reviews on Google, Yelp, threebestrated, lawerratingz.com).
Contact our Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers today to get the savvy legal advice you need to navigate around a later in life divorce or separation minefield.
Our senior Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers know that:
- early retirement plans may become unreasonable upon separation,
- jobs that will soon end for one or both spouses increase financial uncertainties,
- one spouse who has been out of the workforce will often have no chance of being employed or to become self sufficient and
- the concept of “double dipping with pension income that has been accounted for in property division and then the income produced is demanded as a source of spousal support are all part of a stressful mix of litigation issues.
It is crucial you hire experienced Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers because a later in life divorce or separation leaves no margin for error and there is no ability to make lost money back late in life.
Calgary Grey Divorce Support Lawyers 403-444-5503
Our Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers will help try to ensure your golden years are not tarnished by a Calgary Grey divorce support disagreement. Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers help explain that spousal support in long marriages can be substantial and long lasting. However, if the higher income earning spouse has only a few years left to earn income support can leave both parties in a difficult situation and financial security may not be possible for either. Calgary later in life spousal support cases require a judge to assess the realities of the situation and order bridge support until a pension kicks in.
Recent Appeal Case Explained By Calgary Grey Divorce Support Lawyers
A husband who took early retirement in a long marriage found out that his spousal support would not be reduced to zero but would take into account he still had the ability to earn income as a consultant while his wife who had health issues would not be able to work at all. As such a judge found the correct support payable until the pension was being received by the husband and wife would be $6,000 a month.
In Smith v Smith, 2016 ABCA 376 the Alberta Court Of Appeal explained the financial disadvantage suffered by the homemaker spouse after a long marriage and held as follows:
[29] With respect to ongoing spousal support, the trial judge found the wife was entitled to support on a compensatory and non-compensatory basis. The wife had limited marketable skills and her health prevented her from doing the reception job she had undertaken briefly after separation. The wife testified that the husband had advised her he would be doing contract work, that contract work was usually available for shutdowns, and that shutdowns would happen definitely once a year and sometimes more often. The husband had, in fact, worked some of those shutdowns. She also testified that there was a plan, discussed between them, that the husband would take early retirement and would then take on contract work after retirement. The wife provided some evidence that the husband had been taking supervisory courses with this intention. The wife also testified that in the past, the husband could make $25,000 per month in a one month shutdown. The trial judge declined to impute $100,000 income annually to the husband in the future, as suggested by the wife. However, the trial judge was confident that the husband would be doing consulting work and, as such, would have the ability to pay an appropriate amount of spousal support for a fixed period of time. After that he concluded that both parties would have made the adjustment to retirement that was required.
[30] The husband submits that the trial judge ought not to have awarded any spousal support on an ongoing basis. First, he says there is no evidence that he is or will be working. Second, because he will not be working, he will be drawing on his pension as his only source of income, which has now been divided. He says this is double dipping as discussed in Boston v Boston, 2001 SCC 43 (CanLII), [2001] 2 SCR 413, and is unfair. Third, he says the trial judge failed to consider whether such a spousal support award was required to promote the wife’s economic self-sufficiency.
[31] Dealing first with the argument regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in Boston, it must be remembered that the Supreme Court did not state that spousal support cannot be paid after retirement, or that double recovery must be avoided at all costs. Major J made clear that double recovery cannot always be avoided. It may be permitted “where the payor spouse has the ability to pay, where the payee spouse has made a reasonable effort to use the equalized assets in an income-producing way and, despite this, an economic hardship from the marriage or its breakdown persists”: Boston at para 65.
[32] Cases decided after Boston caution against applying the rule against double recovery to deny a strong spousal support claim that is based on the means and needs of the parties. Courts have acknowledged the serious economic disadvantage often experienced by payees after long-term marriages: see Aquila v Aquila, 2016 MBCA 33 (CanLII), 397 DLR (4th) 102 at paras 70-72; Senek v Senek, 2014 MBCA 67 (CanLII), [2014] MJ No 187 (QL) at para 8; MacQuarrie v MacQuarrie, 2012 PECA 3 (CanLII), 319 Nfld & PEIR 246.
[33] Here, the trial judge was alive to these concerns. The wife had not worked outside the home since their first child was born some thirty years ago, save for minimal reception work she found post-separation. Her evidence and medical evidence that her eyesight prevented her from taking on similar work in the future was accepted, and in any event such work would not provide sufficient monies to properly compensate her for her sacrifice and her actual needs.
[34] The more material question is whether, on this record, the trial judge could fairly conclude that the husband would undertake contract work in the near future so as to be able to pay the spousal support ordered. The evidence established the husband’s ability to find work post-retirement, that he could work in supervisory conditions, and that the possibility of obtaining contract work existed. As regards the likelihood of him doing so, both parties acknowledged that they had discussed the prospect of contract work post-retirement, that the husband’s friends had done this and that the husband’s own budget seemed to demonstrate that he needed to supplement his income. The findings that the husband was capable of finding work, that he is likely to do so and that he can pay reasonable spousal support, are all supported on the record. There is no error warranting our intervention.
The Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers at MacLean Law are pleased to help you consider your options when you are separating later in life. Tax planning can ease the pressures and strategies including lump sum support, life insurance secured support, time limited support and creative property division strategies may all be able to allow both parties to move forward successfully.
Call our MacLean Law Calgary Grey Divorce Support lawyers now at 403-444-5503 to find a way to move forward successfully in your grey divorce.
