Interim Spousal Support

Courts take a different approach in making a ruling on temporary spousal support during a motion than the approach taken on a determination of a final award of spousal support at a trial.

Specifically, in determining whether a party is responsible to provide his/her spouse with temporary or interim spousal support, the Court will look to cases such as Thomas v. Thomas and Hughes v. Hughes. The jurisprudence (i.e. case law) conveys that an award of temporary spousal support should seek to allow the recipient to obtain support from the date of the commencement of the litigation until the final trial. An adjudicator should primarily take into account the needs and means of the recipient of support, and attempt to place the parties on equal ground with respect to the financial support available to them individually.

Interestingly, if a party feels as though he/she is disadvantaged due to the unlimited resources available to their counterpart, they may apply to the Court for “advance costs" to fund the litigation and place the parties on relatively equal ground. However, a motion for “advance costs” should not be relied on and should only be used in extreme cases, as Justice Gates pointed out in the case of Lakhoo v. Lakhoo.

To learn more about temporary spousal support as well as other issues relating to spousal support, call 905.707.3370 today.