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Shares, restricted units, deferred bonus and pension are treated one way when property is divided and another way when support is calculated, and the same grant can be counted twice if nobody is watching. Our Oakville office is on Lakeshore Road East.
Start My Enquiry →Our Oakville office, 277 Lakeshore Road East | Halton family court, 491 Steeles Ave E, Milton | Executive and deferred compensation | Initial Assessments
A good many Oakville households are supported by pay that does not arrive as pay. A base salary, then a bonus that varies, then a grant of shares or restricted units that vests over three or four years, then a pension. On separation each of those is treated differently, and the differences are where the money is.
The first question is what belonged to the couple. Property in Ontario includes any interest, present or future, vested or contingent. An unvested grant made before the date of separation is a contingent future interest, so it is property, and it goes into the calculation. What it is worth is a harder question than whether it counts, because the valuation has to reflect the risk that it never vests and the tax that will be paid if it does.
The second question is what counts as income for support afterwards, and the answer is not symmetrical. A bonus that swings from year to year can be smoothed by looking at the last three years and arriving at a fair figure. Federal Child Support Guidelines, section 17(1). Most public company options and restricted units are already inside the income shown on a T4 and need no adjustment at all. There is a specific adjustment for options in a Canadian-controlled private corporation, and it bites when the options are exercised rather than when they vest. Schedule III, section 13.
The third question is the one that catches people, and Ontario law has not fully settled it: whether the very same grant that was divided as property can then be counted again as income for support. The principle against recovering twice from one asset is real, its limits are contested, and the answer may differ as between child support and spousal support. The practical response is to identify in the agreement exactly which tranches were divided, rather than leave it to be argued about in four years.
Every family case for Oakville, Burlington and Milton is heard at 491 Steeles Avenue East in Milton, about twenty-five minutes north of our office. Halton is not a Family Court site, so the jurisdiction is split between two courts sitting in the same building, and which one your case belongs in depends on what you are claiming.
Divorce, equalization of net family property, the matrimonial home, and any parenting or support claim brought together with a divorce or property claim. Pension division orders and business valuation disputes are heard here.
Parenting orders, child and spousal support, restraining orders and child protection, where no divorce and no property claim is being made. It cannot grant a divorce and it cannot divide property, which is what makes the choice of court a real decision in Halton rather than a formality.
Our Oakville office is at 277 Lakeshore Road East, which makes this the closest of our four offices for Halton clients.
Equity granted before the valuation date is property whether or not it has vested, because Ontario defines property to include a contingent future interest. The work is in valuing it: the probability of vesting, forfeiture on leaving the employer, the spread at the valuation date, and the contingent tax liability, which the statute expressly recognises.
For support, the starting point is the income on the tax return, adjusted where the Guidelines require. A fluctuating bonus can be assessed across three years where the ordinary calculation would not be the fairest determination. A significant part of income arriving as dividends or other lower-taxed sources is a basis for imputing a different figure. Sections 17 and 19.
The double counting question needs to be dealt with in the agreement rather than left open. We identify the tranches that formed part of the property division, and record that their realised value is excluded from income in later support calculations. Courts have taken different views on whether that exclusion applies to child support as well as spousal support, so the drafting has to be deliberate.
Ontario equalises the growth in each spouse’s net worth across the marriage. One rule surprises almost everyone and it matters in a town of long-held houses: if you owned the home before you married and it is still the matrimonial home when you separate, you cannot deduct its value at the date of marriage. The deduction is expressly unavailable for a matrimonial home, and the mortgage that was on it at the date of marriage cannot be deducted either.
That single rule can move a settlement by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it applies whether or not the other spouse ever contributed to the house. It is worth understanding before positions harden.
Above a certain income the advisory guidelines stop being a formula and start being a starting point, and the argument moves to entitlement, to the basis of the claim, and to duration. Whether the claim is compensatory or based on need changes how other assets and their income are treated.
We are equally comfortable acting for the payor and the recipient, and we will tell you early and plainly which parts of your position are strong and which are not.
Our Oakville office is at 277 Lakeshore Road East, Suite 408, in the town centre. Most matters qualify for a no-obligation initial assessment, in person, by telephone or by video. If deferred compensation is part of your household income, bring the plan documents and your last three years of tax returns and we can be useful from the first meeting.
277 Lakeshore Rd E, Suite 408
Oakville, ON L6J 1H9
In the town centre, about 25 minutes from the Milton courthouse
55 University Ave, Suite 1100, Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
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