Does Spousal Support End if Your Ex Remarries or Moves In in BC?

Learning that your ex has remarried or moved in with someone new can raise strong feelings and a practical question: do the payments stop? If you receive support, the same news may make you worry about losing it.

The short answer in British Columbia is that it depends on your order or agreement, and that changes must go through the proper process. This article explains how.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

Start with your order or agreement

Whether a new relationship or remarriage ends or reduces support depends first on the order or agreement. Neither the Family Law Act nor the Divorce Act provisions on support end it automatically on remarriage or moving in.

An agreement can say when support changes or ends, for example on cohabitation or a new relationship. If yours has such a term, that is where you begin. A term that a spouse abstain from sexual relations after separation is not binding. A spouse may also release the other from support liability.

If the order or agreement says nothing

The payor must apply to change or end support. The relevant provisions are section 167 of the Family Law Act and section 17 of the Divorce Act, and repartnering is listed in the guidelines' user guide as a factor that can justify variation or review.

Under the Family Law Act, a court may change, suspend, or retroactively or prospectively end an order or agreement if there has been a change in the condition, means, needs or other circumstances of either spouse since it was made, or if new substantial evidence or nondisclosure is discovered. The Divorce Act similarly requires the court to be satisfied that such a change has occurred, and allows an order to be varied, rescinded or suspended retroactively or prospectively.

A new partner is not an automatic reason. The question is what has changed for the recipient or the payor, such as shared expenses or income. Each case turns on its facts. Variation under the Divorce Act should still recognize economic advantages or disadvantages from the marriage, child-care consequences, hardship, and self-sufficiency within a reasonable period.

Do not stop paying on your own

A court can order a change retroactively, but the order stays in force until changed by a court or by agreement. A payor who stops paying first accrues arrears that remain enforceable.

Arrears under a judgment, or under an agreement filed under the Family Law Act, are not barred by the 2-year basic limitation period. A written support agreement filed in court can be enforced as an order, through the BC Family Maintenance Agency or by court application.

Other points that can come up

• Fixed-term orders: if a fixed-term order has expired, support can resume only if the applicant shows economic hardship arising from changed circumstances that would likely have led to a different order.
• Reviews: an agreement or order may provide for a review of support, setting the timing, process, grounds and factors.
• Signed agreements: a witnessed written agreement can be set aside or replaced only on specified grounds or if significantly unfair.
• Death of the payor: support can continue as a debt of the estate only in limited circumstances, and the court must first find ongoing significant need, sufficient estate assets and no other practical means to meet the need.

What to do next

• Read the support clause of your order or agreement for any term about cohabitation, remarriage or review.
• Keep paying what the order or agreement requires until a court or a new agreement changes it.
• Gather evidence of what has changed in income, expenses and living arrangements.
• If you are the recipient, keep your own records and respond promptly to any application.
• Get legal advice on whether to negotiate a change or apply to the court.

If you are asking for a change, note that tax treatment can follow what the order or agreement requires, since amounts beyond it do not qualify as support for tax purposes. A lawyer or accountant can confirm how this affects you.

Frequently asked questions