What is the test for terminating spousal support when the payor spouse has retired?

In Angulo v. Angulo, 2019 ONSC 1456, Justice Horkins found that the payor spouse’s retirement was a material change in circumstances warranting a termination in spousal support. The payor spouse was 68 years old and he had given his former spouse advance notice of his decision to retire. The retirement, although voluntary, was not to avoid the further payment of spousal support as alleged by the payee spouse: at paras. 92, 96.

The payee spouse in Stringer v. Stringer, 2017 BCSC 1470, did not provide any independent evidence of her disability, which she claimed influenced her inability to support herself after the conclusion of the relationship. The payor spouse’s long-planned date of retirement, which triggered the review of spousal support, coupled with other factors that included the payee spouse’s failure to take reasonable steps towards self-sufficiency, warranted a decrease in spousal support: at para. 163.