Special or Extraordinary Expenses are paid for over and above child support. They are meant to pay for the children’s non day-to-day expenses. This can include the children’s extracurricular activities, daycare, private school, post-secondary tuition fees, and medical or dental expenses. They would not include items like groceries, diapers, or clothing, except in exceptional circumstances, as these expenses are meant to be covered by child support.
The children’s special or extraordinary expenses are usually shared by the parents in proportion to each of their incomes. Remember, if you are paying your spouse spousal support, that is a deduction on your income and attributed as income to the recipient spouse.
If you have young children, you will have to do a cost-benefit analysis with your lawyer to determine whether you are insisting that your spouse return to work full-time to reduce the spousal support you may owe, is worth it. It may be the case that your spouse returning to work will mean that your children will need to go to full-time or part-time daycare.
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Going to Court does not mean you will be going to Trial. In fact, a case could be made that Family Court’s whole raison d’être is to help you avoid Trial. In Ontario, less than 1% of Family Law cases go all the way to Trial. You do not want to be part of that 1%.
Fair warning. It’s a wearying slog to the courthouse. Be prepared for the journey, from first step to last, to take anywhere from several months to two years. If your situation is complicated, or you and your spouse are adversarial, or sometimes just because of court delays, it may well take much longer.
Maybe you and your ex are walking out of your marriage with no hard feelings or bruised egos. Maybe you still get along well and can put old grievances aside. Maybe talking to your ex doesn’t twist your stomach into knots and send your blood pressure through the roof.
Maybe, but probably not.
The marriage is over. You want out, your spouse wants out, but neither of you wants your issues to rain all over the kids. The thought of your four-year-old in a court room answering questions from a judge makes you cringe. The idea of some stranger interrogating your ten-year-old, asking him/her to choose between you doesn’t sit well either.
But would that happen? If you go to court will your children have to appear before a judge?
Tears blur your phone screen. Anger punches your fingers at the keyboard as you hit up Google looking for a Family Law lawyer. You want the kids, the house, and the vintage LP collection your spouse has spent a fortune on. You want an attack dog of a lawyer who will fight to get it all for you. That’s what a lawyer does, right? Fight for you?
Yes, and…no.
The court recognizes that while parents are the foundation, supporting pillars such as grandparents, contribute to a child’s welfare. To ensure that anyone important to the child can continue to be a part of their life, the court can order contact between them.
In the previous post, we talked about settlement, about the court’s expectation that you and your soon-to-be ex resolve most, if not all, of your issues before your case ever gets to Trial. But just how are you supposed to accomplish this impossible task? Offers to Settle.