Does Spousal Support Stop If You Move In With a New Partner in Ontario?

If you receive spousal support and have started a new relationship, you may worry that your payments will stop. If you pay support, you may wonder whether you can stop paying once your former spouse moves in with someone. Both questions come up often, and the answer is rarely a simple yes or no.

This article explains how a new partner or remarriage is generally treated in Ontario, what a court looks at, and the steps involved in asking for a change. It is general information, not advice on your own order or agreement.

No automatic end to support

A recipient's remarriage or new relationship does not automatically end spousal support. Support is often reduced and sometimes ended, but that is a decision made on the facts.

This means a payor should not simply stop paying because a former spouse has a new partner. Until a court changes an order, its existing terms generally remain in place. FRO, which enforces many orders, cannot change support terms; only a court can change an order.

What a court weighs

When a recipient remarries or repartners, courts weigh several things:

• Whether the award is compensatory, meaning it responds to losses or disadvantages from roles in the first relationship.
• The length of the first marriage.
• The recipient's age.
• How stable and well-off the new household is.

Support may rest on compensation, on need, or on a contract. A contractual basis can come from a formal domestic contract or from an implied or informal agreement. If your agreement says something specific about a new partner or cohabitation, that wording matters and should be read carefully with a lawyer.

Orders, agreements and time limits

Spousal support under the Divorce Act can be for a definite period, an indefinite period, or until a specified event happens, and the court may attach terms and conditions it thinks fit and just. So the first question is always what your order or agreement actually says.

Indefinite support does not necessarily mean permanent support. It only means no time limit could be set when the order or agreement was made, and the support stays subject to variation and review.

Under the Divorce Act, if support was ordered for a definite period or until a specified event, a court cannot later resume it unless two things are shown: a variation is needed to relieve economic hardship from a related change, and the changed circumstances would likely have produced a different original order. How a time limit is treated in an order made under other legislation depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

Changing an order: variation and review

Under the Divorce Act, a court can vary, rescind or suspend a spousal support order, retroactively or prospectively, on an application by either or both former spouses. Before varying, the court must be satisfied that either former spouse's circumstances have changed since the order or the last variation, and it must take that change into account. How this works for an order made under other legislation depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

A review is different from a variation. A variation requires a material change in circumstances, while a review is more like an initial application, and the terms of the review clause should limit what is reviewed. The support guidelines are used on variation and review but with considerable caution where complex entitlement issues arise.

A recipient is also expected to make reasonable efforts toward self-support, and a new partner is only one of many possible changes. Courts often decide a recipient is 'not yet' self-sufficient, reducing support or setting a future end date instead.

What to do next

Whether you receive or pay support, take stock before acting.

• Find your court order or separation agreement and read the terms on duration, review and any listed ending events.
• Gather proof of the change, such as the new household's living arrangements and each person's income.
• How to apply to change an order depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer before you change what you pay or receive.
• If a motion to change is issued, serve the other spouse within 30 days and file an Affidavit of Service (Form 6B); the other spouse then has 30 days to respond, or 60 days if they live outside Canada or the United States.
• Keep records of every payment made and received.

Frequently asked questions