Victory: Biggest BC Interim Spousal Support Award of My Career

Though Shall Pay Spousal Support and Other Support Equivalent of Your Entire Income To Your Wife

…was the meaning of the Order granted for my client today! I am over the moon happy for my well-deserving client and her children.

The Orders: Maximum Spousal Support, All Mortgage and Utility Payments and Legal Costs to be paid by the Husband

1) The Husband was to pay maximum Spousal Support payable on an interim basis pending Trial;

2) The Husband was to pay the entire mortgage and all utility payments of the house my client is residing in, totalling more than $4000 per month (the husband does not live in this house); and

3) The Husband was to pay double legal costs for my client.

This Family’s Story

This was another tragic story of a family breaking apart after numerous years of marriage. The husband left the family for another woman but did not stop there.

The husband, who earned more than $90,000 per year, spent his money and the family’s money on gambling, playing stocks and irresponsible spending which put the entire family in a financial downward spiral.

The sons, who are both adults, had to forego their educational and career aspirations to move back with the wife and financially help her while the husband enjoyed his ‘single’ life and spent his money on things that did not involve his family.

His youngest son who was in his 20s and earned approximately half of the father’s income and had to shoulder incredible financial obligations such as paying his father’s debts, paying for the mortgage on the house in which he had no interest and paying for the mother’s day to day expenses.

Desperate for financial assistance, they came to me and asked for help.

The Argument I made in Court for Spousal Support and Interim Property Distribution

I could only ask the Court to award up to 50%-51% of the husband’s net income to the wife as spousal support. This meant the wife would obtain half of approximately $70,000, which is $35,000 per year or approximately $3000 per month. This was not enough.

The mortgage on the house she resided in alone was $3,200 per month so I needed to think outside the box.

The husband had recently sold one of the parties’ houses without consulting with the wife. The net sale proceeds were approximately $100,000. I obtained an Order for the sale proceeds to be deposited into my trust account.

Next, I asked the judge to grant an Order under which the $3,200 in mortgage payments plus utilities would be paid out of the husband’s share of the sale proceeds held in my trust even though the husband did not live in the house and obtained no benefit from paying the mortgage except for increased equity. 

I argued that the husband should singularly pay for the mortgage because for the previous 2 years, his son had been largely paying for the mortgage and it was payback time.

The Master agreed with me and granted another order that said all mortgage and utility payments relating to the house would be taken out of the husband’s share of the trust funds.

This in effect meant that the wife would receive $3,500 per month for spousal support (highest end) and approximately $4000-$4,500 per month for mortgage and utility payments totalling approximately $7000 to $8000 per month by way of support.

In addition, the judge awarded my client her legal costs which were doubled because she set the Application on an urgent basis. 

Lesson to be learned: Be kind. Love and support your family even if you do not want to be a part of it anymore. Not only did the husband lose money, but he also lost his family which I am certain was worth more than any amount of money in the world.

Leena Ronak Yousefi is the founder of Yousefi Law Group. For all your Spousal Support inquiries, please contact us at [email protected] or call 604-974-9529!