What factors will the court consider when awarding spousal support?

Of their nature, a consideration of these factors is fact-driven. Each case depends on its facts. The court in Corbeil v. Corbeil, 2001 ABCA 220 at para. 3 said, when dealing with the question of entitlement to spousal support, awards of maintenance are not automatic as it “is still necessary to balance all of the objectives and consider the circumstances of the parties.”

The leading case that deals with spousal support is Moge v. Moge, 1992 CanLII 25 (SCC), [1992] 3 S.C.R. 813, which continues to provide courts with guidance when addressing these issues. The court said at paras. 44 and 47 [emphasis original]: Spousal support in the context of divorce, however, is not about the emotional and social benefits of marriage. Rather, the purpose of spousal support is to relieve economic hardship that results from “marriage or its breakdown.” Whatever the respective advantages to the parties of a marriage in other areas, the focus of the inquiry when assessing spousal support after the marriage has ended must be the effect of the marriage in either impairing or improving each party’s economic prospects. ... Fair distribution does not, however, mandate a minute detailed accounting of time, energy and dollars spent in the day to day life of the spouses, nor may it effect full compensation for the economic losses in every case.