Impact of child support on spousal support

• Author: Julien D. Payne, Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 373-378



 

IMPACT OF CHILD SUPPORT

ON SPOUSAL SUPPORT

A. PRIORITY OF CHILD SUPPORT OVER SPOUSAL SUPPORT;

EFFECT OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDER ON ASSESSMENT OF

SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Section . of the Divorce Act provides as follows:

Priority to child s upport

. () Where a court is consideri ng an application for a child support order and an

application for a spousal support order, the cour t shall give priority to child suppor t in de-

termini ng the applications.

Reasons

. () Where, as a result of giv ing priority to child support , the court is unable to

make a spousal support order or t he court makes a spousal support order i n an amount

that is less than it ot herwise would have been, the court sha ll record its reasons for having

done so.

Consequences of re duction or termination of child support orde r

. () Where, as a result of gi ving priority to child suppor t, a spousal support order

was not made, or the amount of a spousa l support order is less than it otherw ise would have

been, any subsequent reduction or term ination of that child support const itutes a change of

circumsta nces for the purposes of applying for a spousa l support order, or a variation order

in respect of the spous al support order, as the case may be.

Section . of the Divorce Act addresses the situation where the application for child

support and the application for spousal support involve members of the same family. It does

not establis h priorities as bet ween sequential families. For example, a former divorced wife’s

order for spousal support will not be subject to a statutor y priority in favour of the obligor’s

 Hilborn v. Hilborn , [] O.J. No.  (S.C.J.).