What is the compensatory method for the purpose of determining the amount of support awarded to a spouse who works in the home?

Manitoba, Canada


The following excerpt is from Sigurdur v. Wright, 2008 MBQB 191 (CanLII):

[34] The compensatory method examines the consequences of the role each spouse adopted during the course of the marriage and is aimed at redressing the advantages gained or the disadvantages suffered as a result. These advantages or disadvantages may arise either as a result of the marriage or as a result of the breakdown of the marriage. The compensation method is not to be used to redistribute the economic wealth of each party. See Moge, supra at para. 74: The equitable sharing of the economic consequences of marriage or marriage breakdown, however, is not a general tool of redistribution which is activated by the mere fact of marriage. Nor ought it to be. It is now uncontentious in our law and accepted by both the majority and minority in Messier v. Delage, 1983 CanLII 31 (SCC), [1983] 2 S. C. R. 401, at pp. 416-417, that marriage per se does not automatically entitle a spouse to support. Presumably, there will be the occasional marriage where both spouses maximize their earning potential by working outside the home, pursuing economic and educational opportunities in a similar manner, dividing up the domestic labour identically, and either making no economic sacrifices for the other or, more likely, making them equally. In such a utopian scenario there might be no apparent call for compensation. The spouses are able to make a clean break and continue on with their respective lives. Such cases would appear to be rare.

Other Questions


What is the test for determining whether a spouse is entitled to spousal support on a compensatory basis? (Manitoba, Canada)
What is the test for determining the appropriate amount of spousal support for a separated spouse? (Manitoba, Canada)
Is a spouse entitled to spousal support when the spouse dies? (Manitoba, Canada)
What is the test for a "compensatory spousal support" award? (Manitoba, Canada)
When will the court order an estimated or estimated amount of expenses to be paid by the requesting spouse? (Manitoba, Canada)
What factors will the court consider in determining whether an award of damages is warranted? (Manitoba, Canada)
What is the effect of a spouse's request for partition or sale of the marital home? (Manitoba, Canada)
What is the effect of a delay in seeking spousal support if the husband has been seeking support for more than a year? (Manitoba, Canada)
What is the burden of spousal support for a spouse who remarries? (Manitoba, Canada)
What is the test for undue hardship in determining child support? (Manitoba, Canada)
X



Alexi white


"The most advanced legal research software ever built."

Trusted by top litigators from across North America.