What is the effect of a trial judge’s “dollar for dollar” approach to reapportionment of the family finances?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Vidican v Dinu, 2020 BCSC 178 (CanLII):
In Khan v. Gilbert, 2019 BCCA 80 at para. 36, the court found that the trial judge had erred by approaching reapportionment on the basis of “a dollar for dollar comparison of contribution to expenses [,] which does not reflect the nature of marriage as a family venture”. Such an approach failed to recognize that “in most marriages, one spouse will earn more than another and therefore contribute more to the family finances” (para. 36).
As explained in Khan, cases in which unequal contribution has led to reapportionment under s. 95 “involved marked, prolonged, and intentional or unexplained disparities in contribution to family burdens” (para.32). In contrast, factors such as one spouse providing two-thirds of the down payment for the family residence and performing most of the renovations to it were not sufficient to render an equal division significantly unfair: Hamill v. Dunlop, 2016 BCSC 1337.
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