“In any event, an award of spousal support does not simply aim to give a payee spouse an income sufficient to just meet expenses dollar for dollar. It is intended to give the payee spouse a lifestyle similar to that enjoyed during marriage. A recipient’s need is measured against the parties’ marital standard of living: Mason, at para. 201. The closer the economic union, the greater is the presumptive claim to an equal standard of living upon dissolution: Fisher, at para. 56.
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Section 9.4 of the SSAGs addresses the payor’s needs and ability to pay. When applying the “without child support” formula (as in this case), it is important to look at the net income consequences of any particular amount of spousal support, especially for the payor. This is critical in longer marriages, where the formula percentages are higher.
Section 9.6 deals with property division and debts and states that:
Underpinning the Advisory Guidelines is a basic assumption that the parties have accumulated the typical family or matrimonial property for couples of their age, incomes and obligations, and that their property is divided equally under matrimonial property laws. Significant departures from these assumptions may affect where support is fixed within the ranges for amount and duration.
Further, “[i]f the recipient receives a large amount of property, the low end of the range might be more appropriate.”
Section 9 of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines: The Revised User’s Guide(Ottawa: Department of Justice Canada, 2016) further provides that property equalization “can influence location, mostly at the extremes. A large property settlement gives the spouses security and capital to fall back upon, likely leading to an amount lower in the range: Cochrane v. Cochrane, 2013 BCSC 2114.”