Spousal Undertaking Clauses

[tronomonreal]

Good afternoon everyone
@scylla @Bs65 @canuck_in_uk @legalfalcon @dpenabill @canuck78

My wife and I have become permanent residents earlier this year. I was main applicant and she was dependent. Things in our marriage are going off track and I'm thinking to get separated from her, we both are having very good jobs from last 2 years, she can very well sustain on her own, can she still legally demand monetary support from me as I'm obliged to provide, as per the undertaking? (If at all she looses her job then I'm ok to provide her the required support). How does the law sees this if both of our incomes are on par and stable.

Thanks in advance.

 

[armoured]

Good afternoon everyone
@scylla @Bs65 @canuck_in_uk @legalfalcon @dpenabill @canuck78

My wife and I have become permanent residents earlier this year. I was main applicant and she was dependent. Things in our marriage are going off track and I'm thinking to get separated from her, we both are having very good jobs from last 2 years, she can very well sustain on her own, can she still legally demand monetary support from me as I'm obliged to provide, as per the undertaking? (If at all she looses her job then I'm ok to provide her the required support). How does the law sees this if both of our incomes are on par and stable.

Thanks in advance.

The undertaking you signed - in simplified terms - is to repay the government certain social payments she may receive if she goes on government support. (Government support in this definition doesn't include employment insurance or provincial health care).

It gets complicated exactly which types of support are covered, etc. - but short form if your spouse keeps working and doesn't ask for assistance, you won't be asked to reimburse anything.

Entirely separate from that are your 'civil' responsibilities towards your spouse - that is, if you get divorced and your spouse wants a different share of assets or income support direct from you. That's between you, your spouse and the courts.

The undertaking you signed for IRCC has nothing to do with that, it's just civil/common law and any direct agreements you two may have.

 

[tronomonreal]

The undertaking you signed - in simplified terms - is to repay the government certain social payments she may receive if she goes on government support. (Government support in this definition doesn't include employment insurance or provincial health care).

It gets complicated exactly which types of support are covered, etc. - but short form if your spouse keeps working and doesn't ask for assistance, you won't be asked to reimburse anything.

Entirely separate from that are your 'civil' responsibilities towards your spouse - that is, if you get divorced and your spouse wants a different share of assets or income support direct from you. That's between you, your spouse and the courts.

The undertaking you signed for IRCC has nothing to do with that, it's just civil/common law and any direct agreements you two may have.

Thanks for your insights.

 

[scylla]

Good afternoon everyone
@scylla @Bs65 @canuck_in_uk @legalfalcon @dpenabill @canuck78

My wife and I have become permanent residents earlier this year. I was main applicant and she was dependent. Things in our marriage are going off track and I'm thinking to get separated from her, we both are having very good jobs from last 2 years, she can very well sustain on her own, can she still legally demand monetary support from me as I'm obliged to provide, as per the undertaking? (If at all she looses her job then I'm ok to provide her the required support). How does the law sees this if both of our incomes are on par and stable.

Thanks in advance.

There is no obligation under immigration rules. This only applies under spousal sponsorship. It sounds like you both obtained PR together through an economic immigration stream. Of course she could still pursue you for financial support as you go through the divorce process. However this has nothing to do with immigration.

 

[scylla]

The undertaking you signed - in simplified terms - is to repay the government certain social payments she may receive if she goes on government support. (Government support in this definition doesn't include employment insurance or provincial health care).

It gets complicated exactly which types of support are covered, etc. - but short form if your spouse keeps working and doesn't ask for assistance, you won't be asked to reimburse anything.

Entirely separate from that are your 'civil' responsibilities towards your spouse - that is, if you get divorced and your spouse wants a different share of assets or income support direct from you. That's between you, your spouse and the courts.

The undertaking you signed for IRCC has nothing to do with that, it's just civil/common law and any direct agreements you two may have.

Read the OPs post again. This wasn't spousal sponsorship so there's no obligation. They obtained PR together and OP was the primary applicant.

 

[armoured]

Read the OPs post again. This wasn't spousal sponsorship so there's no obligation. They obtained PR together and OP was the primary applicant.

This certainly threw me off:

monetary support from me as I'm obliged to provide, as per the undertaking?

You're right of course: if there was no undertaking, then there was nothing undertook.

 

[legalfalcon]

Good afternoon everyone
@scylla @Bs65 @canuck_in_uk @legalfalcon @dpenabill @canuck78

My wife and I have become permanent residents earlier this year. I was main applicant and she was dependent. Things in our marriage are going off track and I'm thinking to get separated from her, we both are having very good jobs from last 2 years, she can very well sustain on her own, can she still legally demand monetary support from me as I'm obliged to provide, as per the undertaking? (If at all she looses her job then I'm ok to provide her the required support). How does the law sees this if both of our incomes are on par and stable.

Thanks in advance.

If at your get seperated you will have family law issues and not immigration. When you apply for immigration as a married couple, you do not have any financial obligations towards each other in case of separation. Only in sponsorship application, there is a financial obligation.

See https://ircc.canada.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1355&top=14

Based on the Province you are in, each Province has different rules on how spousal support (if any) is calculated.