Spousal Support Study
Posted Jun 2, 2012 06:06:05 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – A new study says federal guidelines on how much money spouses deserve in support payments after marriage breakup have been working well, reducing legal conflicts.
But the internal study says only British Columbia and Ontario have adopted the guidelines wholesale, with provinces like Quebec much slower to use them.
The study for the federal Justice Department canvassed almost 500 people in the legal system across Canada to find out how well the 2008 guidelines are working.
Most said they’re working well, helping to build predictability, cut legal costs and ensure fairness and consistency.
The internal report was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
The legal scholar who helped write the guidelines, Rollie Thompson, says reliance on the guidelines is spreading to Quebec and other jurisdictions _ and that other countries now see them as a model.
