Divorce after Sponsorship

[Desta]

If someone has sponsored his/her spouse, can he/she divorce before the obligatory 3 year period of support is complete?

 

[steaky]

Yes, she/he can divorce before the obligatory 3 year period of support is complete, but the sponsor still have to support his/her sponsored person for the days until the last day of the 3 years following the day on which the person became a PR

 

[Leon]

Agreed, they can divorce but the sponsor can not sponsor a new spouse until the 3 year period is up and if the sponsored spouse takes welfare within the 3 year period, the sponsor will have to pay it back.

 

[shikha99]

wut if the sponsored person gets loans by themselves? i mean if we offer to feed them and give shelter and clothing,,, but they go and charge of credit cards and purposely spend money, then what?

 

[iarblue]

You are responsible for anything he does here for the first three years.(financially responsible so if he does anything here and he cant pay it back your the one holding the cup.Sorry but it explains that in the forms when he is sponsored that you agree to be finacially responsible for him/her for three years.Even if you divorce.

 

[Leon]

You are not financially responsible for their personal debts unless you co-sign their credit cards or let them get an extra card on your account but if they go to welfare and say they don't have any money and need cash, even if they go on disability, you will get the bill from the government to pay it back.

 

[Smurfette]

HELLO.

I am in a similar situation, I am a Canadian Citiizen, born and raised who married to a man from Iran in 2007. HE became a PR in 2009. 3 years is done in 2012. I want a divorce, but as we were not living in Canada together yet, I moved because our PR process was taking to long. So i am non resident of Canada now and he is in ontario as of December 2010. I know under the divorce act we have to wait 1 years of residency in canada which is fine. That one year would be in Jan 2012. From what I have read so far, is it true I can get a divorce official before the 3 years support time for spouse is done? I know I have to continue supporting him in canada until that date.

We had an informal agreement since I have been the complete financial backer for his last 3 years of university, (which his family completely dumped on me within 2 months of being married, which was never the plan as we had discussed before marriage, and this was all outside of Canada). Anyways since I had been the sole breadwinner, when he graduated and was ready to come to Canada, he said he doesn't want any more money from me at all so we informally agreed that my contrbution to the marriage thus far was way more they it was supposed to be, as I had to pay my own student loans. SO I stopped giving him money as he entered Canada in December as he is living with his brothers. Well I received a letter just now that got lost in the mail that he went ahead and applied for social assistance this past Jan., and never bothered to tell me. I know that I am contractly obligated to support him until 2012, but is he still allowed to claim social assistance when he is living for free with family? I just feel like I have been played, from the the push from his family in Canada for us to get married much sooner then planned because they said immigration would take so long with him being from Iran, to all of a sudden they quit supporting him for university when we had all discussed that it wouldn't be my responsibility since he was in university already when I met him, and that when he came to Canada after graduation that yes ofcourse any further schooling would be mine.

Now that things went horribly sour with us, I can see that his money craved family were the ones who told him to apply for social assistance and he is going on their recommendations. He has agreed to cancel the social assistance, and I want to get a seperation agreement right away to protect myself until the 3 year end date and for whenever I can get a final divorce. I feel him going on social assistance, in which I know he did not need to go on it at all was out of advice from him family and spite to try and ruin chances of me ever meeting someone else and possibly re-marry again as I have left canada. So long winded way of asking: anyone know a good lawyer in Toronto? And now what is a specific amount I would need to still send him until this 3 year term is done. I have given about 40,000 over the last two years for his school, rent, life , etc...I assumed foolishly that I had done my part when his family dumped it on me, I assumed under good faith they would take care of their family member for this last year, as I know they can afford. I am just trying to figure out how to protect myself. This should be the easiest divorce as we have no ties, assests, properties, rrsps etc, as I got rid of everything when I left canada 3 years ago. All we have tied together is our marriage contract from Iran. I have gone from meeting I thought the love of my life who I was ready to do anything for, to feeling like I have been tricked.

Any words of advice?


Thanks

 

[jendrian]

yes you are financially responsible for your sponsored person for the 3 years. The agreement you signed with CIC is very clear about that and it warns you over and over about it

 

[Leon]

Right, you can divorce him at any time, you could have divorced him the day after he landed and you can divorce him now but that will have no bearing on your sponsorship and you being responsible for him for 3 years. You will still be responsible for him financially until 3 years after he landed, even if you are already divorced.

If he takes social assistance, you will get the bill to pay it back.

He has the same right to social assistance as any other Canadian or PR. Just that the difference is that you will get the bill. Why isn't he working though if he's finished his studies?

 

[serenifly]

If someone has sponsored his/her spouse, can he/she divorce before the obligatory 3 year period of support is complete?

Yes ... I have gone through that ... Everything turned out fine, he got remarried even before that 3 year period was over, never applied for government assistance, and everything was fine. It wasn't even a 'good' divorce, he was really angry *even though he dumped me* but still never did anything bad to put me in a bad position. Things happen right?

 

[canadianwoman]

From what I have read so far, is it true I can get a divorce official before the 3 years support time for spouse is done?

Yes, you can divorce him at any time.

Well I received a letter just now that got lost in the mail that he went ahead and applied for social assistance this past Jan., and never bothered to tell me. I know that I am contractly obligated to support him until 2012, but is he still allowed to claim social assistance when he is living for free with family?

You will have to pay back any social assistance he receives, but you can make it difficult for him. If he is living for free with his family, the amount of welfare he is supposed to get is much less. I assume he lied on the application and said he is paying rent. You could inform the welfare authorities that he is living rent-free. He must also seek for a job while on welfare. If you know he is not, you could inform the authorities about that as well.

And now what is a specific amount I would need to still send him until this 3 year term is done. I have given about 40,000 over the last two years for his school, rent, life , etc...

Welfare really does not pay much. If he is living with relatives for free, it pays even less. Depending on the province, it is from $400 to $700 or so a month. You are much better off to just let him go on welfare and paying that, rather than giving him the amounts of money you have in the past. Of course, even better if he gets a job and supports himself.

 

[Smurfette]

Thanks guys for the input. Canadianwoman, I have to call the social assistance woman on friday, she is out of the office until then. My psycho husband keeps saying now he wants nothing to do with me, doesn't want any money from me..Im like then what the hell are you doing going on social assistance?? So what do I do with that? Tell social assistance I will pay what has been given so far but he doesn't want anymore money from me? So he says. I am prepared to still pay for him..even when we were not together the whole year last year I still paid for everything. So if I have to still keep paying him til 2012 , that sucks but its the reality of it I know, I just want to give him the bare minimum. He said to me, him going on social assistance doesn't involve me, and that it just has to be paid back at the end before I sponsor anyone else..he made it sound like he just got a regular loan from the bank!! So you think I should just let social assistance keep paying it and pay it back at the of the 3 year next year? Does that flag me for anything, the letter said my file will be passed to canada revenue agency for collections, that is if I don't pay it, but I have never been given a bill, and thus far it is only about 600.oo

We also have a joint credit card together here in Canada that I cancelled his card almost a year ago, but his name is on the account still. Can he be enforced to make payments on that, or I am stuck with that as well?

Ahhhhh...I am never, never, never, getting married again.

 

[Baloo]

You are only liable for his welfare payments until the end of the sponsorship agreement. If he is claiming welfare I would not give him anything else.
The "social assistance" office can make an arrangement with you for payment, he should get nothing from you directly.
Sadly you cannot choose if social assistance is paid to him.
It takes welfare ages to notify sponsors when someone claims welfare.
Let them know what he is doing, living rent free, not looking for work, etc.

You need to cancel and pay off the credit card, talk to the bank ASAP.

If he is really getting Psycho, log every event and report it all to the police - Spousal harassment is dealt with seriously in Canada.

 

[Leon]

With the credit card debt, you would have to talk to the credit card company. Tell them you are getting divorced and ask them if the debt will be split. It sounds like you were the primary card holder if you say you could cancel his card which might mean that you are liable to the credit card company and he isn't. You might have to pay them and then you might have a claim against him but it sounds like he has no money and no job so you can't squeeze money out of him if it's not there. Another thing, it is common that men who divorce in Canada must pay alimony to their ex wife if the ex wife is not working. I am not sure if they would also make a woman pay alimony to an ex husband but you might want to talk with a lawyer about that.

 

[canadianwoman]

I have to call the social assistance woman on friday, she is out of the office until then. My psycho husband keeps saying now he wants nothing to do with me, doesn't want any money from me..Im like then what the hell are you doing going on social assistance?? So what do I do with that? Tell social assistance I will pay what has been given so far but he doesn't want anymore money from me?

He doesn't seem to realize that his going on welfare is actually taking money from you.
You will have to pay the government what he gets in social assistance. Don't give him any more money directly. When the gov't sends you the 'bill', then you can pay them.
Tell the social assistance worker that your husband is living rent-free with relatives, that he is not looking for work, and that he is working under the table. Then let the welfare authorities take it from there.

I just want to give him the bare minimum.

Believe me, welfare is the bare minimum.

He said to me, him going on social assistance doesn't involve me, and that it just has to be paid back at the end before I sponsor anyone else..

It certainly involves you, since you will have to pay the government back for whatever he gets; maybe don't make a point of this with him, though, because if you keep telling him about it maybe he will insist on going on welfare out of spite.
However, it is true that in many cases sponsors do not pay back the gov't for the welfare until they want to sponsor a new partner. The gov't doesn't do much to collect it. Though you will not get back any tax refund owed you by the gov't.

you think I should just let social assistance keep paying it and pay it back at the of the 3 year next year?

Yes. It will cheaper for you than continuing to give him the money as you have been doing.

Does that flag me for anything, the letter said my file will be passed to canada revenue agency for collections,

It won't hurt you. CRA will take the money out of any income tax that is supposed to be refunded to you if you don't pay.

Can he be enforced to make payments on that, or I am stuck with that as well?

During a divorce settlement, both parties can be forced to split any credit card debt if it is obvious that it was a debt that both parties ran up. However, it is up to the judge. Better to completely cancel the card to make sure he can't use it, if possible.