• If a married couple separates, one spouse usually must pay the other spouse money called an “equalization payment”.
• The property that you bring into the relationship, plus any increase in its value, usually continues to belong to you alone. Anything that you buy for yourself with your brown money during the relationship and own in your name usually belongs only to you. 
• Equalization comes into play when deciding who gets what is jointly owned. For example, if you both contributed to a car and a house, both will be jointly divided or their value will be divided.

• The parent with whom the child lives is entitled to receive child support from the other parent, on behalf of the child. There are two guidelines that Child Support payments must follow:
  • A basic monthly amount, called the table amount
  • A amount for other expenses, called special or extraordinary expenses
• The table amount depends on teh gross annual income of the payor parent and the number of children the support is for
• Special or extraordinary expenses may include:
  • Healthcare, post-secondary education expenses, extracurriculars, daycare, etc.
  • If parents do not agree on how special expenses are divided, they might go to court, where the court decides which expenses are necessary for the child’s best interests and what expenses are reasonable.

Unlike child support, there are no legally binding guidelines for spousal support. If an entitlement exists for a spouse, the amount and duration can be determined by reference to the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines.