Impact of child support on spousal support

• Author: Julien D. Payne/Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 329-334

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   

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.oftheDivorce Act provides as follows:

Priority to child suppor t

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

application for a spousa l support order, the cour t shall give pr iority to chi ld support in

determini ng the applications.

Reasons

.()W here, as a result of givi ng priority to child suppor t, the court is un able to make

a spousal suppor t order or the court makes a spou sal support order in an amou nt that is less

thanitotherwisewouldhavebeen,thecourtshallrecorditsreasonsforhavingdoneso.

Consequences of re duction or termination of child support order

.()Where,asaresultofgivingprioritytochildsupport,aspousalsupportorder

was not made, or the amou nt of a spousal support order is less t han it otherwise wou ld have

been, any subseq uent reduction or termination of t hat child support cons titutes a change of

circumst ances for the purposes of appl ying for a spousal suppor t order,or a va riation order

inrespectofthespousalsupportorder,asthecasemaybe.

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

support and the appl ication for spousal suppor t involve members of the same fam ily. It does

not establish prioritiesas bet ween sequentialfa milies.For example, a former divorce d wife’s

order for spousal suppor t will not be subject to a st atutory priority in favou r of the obligor’s

childrenfrom a second subsequently dissolved marriage. e dif‌f‌iculties that have plagued

the courts respecting the competing claims of sequential familiesremain unresolved.

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