“Miglin articulates a two-stage inquiry in the face of an application for spousal support that is inconsistent with a pre-existing agreement between the parties. The first stage looks at the time the agreement was formed. The second considers all the circumstances at the time of the application.
At the first stage, the court must look at two things. First, it must consider “the circumstances in which the agreement was negotiated and executed to determine whether there is any reason to discount it”: Miglin, at para. 80. Circumstances less than “unconscionability” may be relevant, but a court should not presume an imbalance of power.
Second, once satisfied that there is no reason to discount an agreement due to conditions under which it was negotiated, the court must then inquire whether the substance of the agreement substantially complies with the overall objectives of the DA. Here, the court must look at the agreement in its totality, bearing in mind that all aspects of the arrangement are inextricably linked and that the parties have a large discretion in establishing priorities and goals for themselves: Miglin, at para. 84. If the court is satisfied that the circumstances under which the agreement was negotiated were satisfactory and the agreement was in substantial compliance with the general objectives of the DA at the time of creation, the court should defer to the parties’ wishes and give the agreement great weight: Miglin, at para. 87.
The second stage of the inquiry focuses on the circumstances surrounding the agreement at the time of the application for spousal support. If, and only if, the circumstances at the time of the application represent a significant departure from the range of reasonable outcomes anticipated by the parties, in a manner that puts them at odds with the objectives of the DA, the court may be persuaded to give the agreement little weight: Miglin, at para. 91.”