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holistic planning 34 OCTOBER 2019 The most 33 important separation agreement: if he dies, his estate is bound to pay the child support amount. Basically, you’re bringing his estate as an obligated party into the agreement between him and his wife. So, in case he dies, his wife won’t be left without options. thing is that they Joseph could owe spousal support exhaust all LY: Because Joseph is already paying child support, for the time being he doesn’t pay spousal support. But once the 12-year-old turns 19, Joseph may not have to pay child support for that child. This means about $900 per month opens up. At that point, Nadia can make a claim for spousal support, to which she’ll be entitled if her income is still lower than his. To calculate how much she’ll get, both their incomes matter. Let’s say her income is still $80,000, and his is $125,000. I’m going to assume one of the children has turned 19, and we know they were together for 20 years. There are three ranges of spousal support: low, mid and high. Low range is usually for marriages under five years without children. Mid-range is for marriages 10 to 20 years with children. High range is for traditional, longer marriages where one spouse stayed at home and didn’t work. In this situation, the mid-range would likely apply. With one child under 19, he may have to pay between $34 and $558 per month in spousal support. When he no longer has to pay any child support, the amount of spousal support would be between $1,300 to $1,500 per month. Getting through divorce LY: The first thing they need to do is attend mediation and negotiate a division of the assets, debts, and child and spousal support. And they’ll have to wait one year from separation before they can apply for divorce. They can settle assets during the separation period. It’s encouraged they settle as soon as they can, while there’s still some sorrow or empathy. The longer they wait after separation, the harder it will likely get because anger starts creeping in. Melanie Twietmeyer: They’ll want to consider what financial security will look like: how health may impact future goals; who to rely upon in case of emergency; estate planning to protect final wishes; their monthly living expenses; how to pay down debt; and how to save for retirement, children’s expenses and emergency funding. The first step is to complete a monthly expense statement. A thorough expense statement will provide a clear picture of expenses versus cash flow, and resour- ces on hand. Once a financial separation agreement is in place, the next step is to make an appointment with a wills and estate lawyer to review and formalize final inten- tions. In B.C., a divorce does not invalidate previous opportunities to settle wills. Ensure the executor, guardians and trustees are carefully chosen. In addition, their wills should include an enduring power of attorney, which is a legal docu- ment to authorize an agent to manage financial and legal affairs if they’re unable to do so due to injury or sickness. The other document necessary for long-term estate planning in B.C. is a representation agreement. These agreements are drafted to ensure comprehensive healthcare and personal care matters are met in the event of incapacity. LY: Overall, the most important thing is that they exhaust all opportunities to settle. If they don’t, they’re going to likely spend part or all of their life savings liti- gating. So go to separation counselling with a family therapist, which is counselling catered to helping them smoothly go through the separation route and learn how to co-parent and live separate lives. It’s not counselling to get them back together. These people are looking for options, and to do that they need to work together. AE