"What I had when we married - why does it matter?"

Common Question: "I was married for several years and I am now separated. Someone told me that it is important for me to show in my paperwork what I had when I married my wife. Why does this matter?"

Answer: Ontario's Family Law Act provides a mechanism, unique to our Province, for the sharing, on separation, of the spouses' assets and debts, by value. The Act contemplates the sharing by the spouses of the increase in their net worths (based on a formula provided by the law) between the date of marriage and the date of separation. In other words, a separated spouse gets credit for the value of their assets (less debts) at marriage. This is why it's important for you to establish that value. The actual category of asset is called a “date of marriage deduction”.

Here is a simplistic example - a very basis one but it illustrates the main point:

You had a painting before marriage (your Aunt Susie gave it to you when you graduated from college) and after you were married, it hung in the family room. At marriage, the painting was worth $5.00. When you and your spouse separated several years later, the painting had increased in value to $12.00 because the artist had become quite famous. Over time, you knew that the market value of the painting had increased so to protect it, you had placed it in your safety deposit box. Based on this example, you would be showing the value of this painting as $5.00 at marriage and as $12.00 at separation. The net effect would be that you would be sharing with your spouse only the increase in the value of the painting between the marriage and separation, namely $7.00.

©AJJakubowska