Families

No. If you are married or have lived together for at least two years you both have rights to your home. This means your spouse cannot make you leave but you also cannot force your spouse to leave. Usually this means spouses agree, at least for the short term, about who will go and who will stay. Spouses can also continue to live in the same place but just be roommates not spouses.

If your spouse has been abusive there are ways to force them to leave the home, discussed in the family violence section.

If you are married only a court order for divorce will end the marriage. If you are common-law spouses because you lived together for two years or more, the relationship ends when you stop living together. In this case you still have two years to make a claim for family property.

If you lived with the other parent after your child was born then you and the other parent share parenting rights, such as the right to make decisions about your child. If you did not live with the other parent after your child was born you are the sole decision-maker. This is just a starting point and can be changed by the court or by agreement.

In almost all cases both parents stay involved in the lives of their children after they split. If there has been abuse this can be different. Parents can decide together when the kids will spend time with each of them. They can also decide who will make major decisions or if they will make them together. If parents cannot work it out together, they can get help from people like mediators or counsellors. If they still cannot work it out they can ask the court to decide.

Both parents need to continue to support the kids financially. If they live with one parent most of the time that parent supports them by looking after their day-to-day needs. They buy food, clothing and provide a place for them to live. In this case the other parent will pay child support to help with these costs.

Sometimes the kids will split their time more evenly between the parents. In this case if the parents make around the same amount of money there can be no child support. If one parent makes more, they will usually pay child support to the other parent. This will be less than what they would pay if the other parent had the children almost all the time.

If the kids are living mostly with one parent (at least 60% of the time) the other parent’s income and the number of kids is used to calculate the amount. This is called the Table Amount. You can look up the Child Support Guidelines online to do your own calculations. When time is split more evenly you can calculate what each parent would pay if the kids lived with them full time. Then you subtract the lesser amount from the higher amount. This is what the parent who makes more money pays the other parent.

Aside from this base amount parents can also share some expenses by each paying part based on their income. This is for things that are not everyday expenses, like childcare fees or medical expenses not covered by Saskatchewan Health.

There is no automatic right to spousal support. You may be able to get spousal support if you are married or lived common law for at least two years. If you lived together for less than two years you may still be able to get spousal support  if you had kids together. You and your spouse could agree on spousal support or you could ask the court to order it. When the court is considering spousal support they will consider:

• the financial means, needs and circumstances of each spouse
• the length of the spousal relationship
• the role each spouse had during the relationship and the effect on each spouse’s financial position
• any court order or agreement about child or spousal support

If you have a court order or agreement for child or spousal support, you can register it with the Maintenance Enforcement Office (MEO). If payments are not being made, the MEO can use their power to collect money from the person. They can do things like:

• take money from the person’s bank account or take their wages
• take payments owed to the person from the federal government such as Employment Insurance, Revenue Canada refunds or GST rebates
• sell some of the person’s property, like a vehicle
• suspend the person’s driver’s, fishing and hunting licences

Usually, the value of anything either of you bought or were given during the relationship is divided equally. The value of things you had when the relationship started is not divided but any increase in the value during the relationship would be divided equally. The family home is different. Regardless of when it was bought its value is divided evenly. The family home is where you lived together. You can each take some property and/or sell some so that the value can be divided evenly.

Other debts are usually considered when dividing the value of your property. You could add up the value of all your property and subtract all your debt. Then you could each get half of that amount.

It is important to remember that any agreement you make about debts does not change who owes the bank money. Anyone who has signed or co-signed a loan is still responsible for paying it regardless of what you and your spouse have agreed to. Sometimes banks or credit card companies will take one spouse’s name off a loan or credit card debt but they do not have to do this.

For more information about all parts of family law, visit famli.plea.org or order the Family Law Handbook free of charge by going to plea.org.

Aboriginal Courtworker Program
Aboriginal Courtworkers help Indigenous adults and youth navigate the criminal and family justice systems. In family cases they can do things like help people get lawyers, connect them to services and explain rights and responsibilities in family law.
Phone: 1.800.514.5666

Child Support Service
This service can be used to calculate child support when there is no agreement or order in place as well as to recalculate child support orders or agreements. There are situations when child support cannot be calculated or recalculated using the service. This is a Government of Saskatchewan program and there is no cost to use it.
Phone: 306.787.5042

Child Support Table Look-up
You can input the required information (annual gross income of paying parent, number of children and province where the paying parent lives) and this program will calculate the Table amount of child support.

Family Matters Program
Helps families going through separation or divorce by providing access to information and resources to deal with a changing family situation, as well as assistance to resolve urgent and outstanding issues.
Phone: 1.844.863.3408
Email: familymatters@gov.sk.ca

Family Law Information Centre
Provides legal information about family law regardless of income at no cost. Self-help kits can be ordered that include the forms needed to take a family law case to court. Some limited assistance in filling these forms out is provided as well. They do not provide legal advice.
Phone: 306.787.5837
Email: familylaw@gov.sk.ca

Maintenance Enforcement Office
If you are not receiving support that should be paid under a court order or agreement, you can register your support order or agreement and they will enforce it.
Toll-free: 1.866.229.9712
Phone: 306.787.8961
Email: meoinquiry@gov.sk.ca