Saturday, May 7, 2005

Today the federal Department of Justice released Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines: A Draft Proposal, a report prepared by University of Toronto Law Professor Carol Rogerson and Dalhousie University Law Professor Rollie Thompson.

For the first time, family law practitioners will have uniform guidelines to help determine the amount and duration of spousal support under the federal Divorce Act, after entitlement has been decided.

The federal Department of Justice recruited Professors Rogerson and Thompson, both family law scholars, in 2001, to direct a project that involves working with family lawyers, judges and mediators to devise formulas based on sharing percentages of spousal incomes that would provide a practical tool to assist lawyers in settling cases before they come to court.

"The guidelines are a response to overwhelming concerns voiced by judges and lawyers about the uncertainty and unpredictability in this area of the law. It's very much a response to a practical set of problems," Prof. Rogerson says.

The guidelines are available here (in PDF format):

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