Advantage Family Law
Spousal Support for Professionals
& Business Owners
Legal & Business Expertise for High-Income Spousal Support
Spousal Support for High-Income Families
Spousal support becomes significantly more complex when high incomes, business interests, and substantial assets are involved. At Advantage Family Law, we understand the financial realities that shape these claims and have the expertise to navigate them.
Standard legal guidelines are often inadequate in these situations. Reaching a fair outcome requires both legal and financial expertise, and that is exactly what we offer.
One spouse may have sacrificed career advancement to support the other’s professional growth. Family wealth may be tied up in investments, trusts, or a privately held business. Each of these factors demands careful analysis before any support figure can be justified.
We assess the full picture of your family’s financial situation and advocate for a result that reflects the true contributions of both spouses.
Your Advocate in Complex Spousal Support Cases
Fair spousal support calculations depend on knowing what income actually exists within a family. Tax returns rarely tell the full story, and identifying the true financial picture requires both legal and financial expertise.
Christopher Bungay, senior counsel at Advantage Family Law, brings over 20 years of experience across law, business ownership, and investing. He has built multiple businesses, pursued advanced education in business analysis and complex investing, and spent his career developing the financial fluency that spousal support cases at this level demand. When he reviews a family’s finances, he knows what to look for and where it tends to be hidden.
Christopher also understands the emotional weight his clients are carrying. As a qualified family law mediator, he has a strong record of reaching settlements that protect his clients’ privacy and minimize conflict. Should your case not resolve in negotiation or mediation, he will rigorously pursue your rights in court.
His credentials include certification in family mediation and membership in the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Alberta. Outside of his practice, he serves as president of Sober Kids Canada, a national charity focused on teen substance abuse education.
Christopher Bungay
Divorce lawyer
Spousal Support
Spousal support is one of the most misunderstood aspects of family law. Many people enter the separation process without knowing whether they are entitled to receive it, obligated to pay it, or somewhere in between. The answer depends on the specific financial dynamic of your marriage.
Do You Have to Pay Spousal Support?
The central question in any spousal support claim is whether an economic imbalance exists between you and your spouse. When a marriage creates a situation where one spouse is financially vulnerable relative to the other, the law recognizes an obligation to address that imbalance after separation.
A common example is a marriage where one spouse built a high-earning career while the other stepped back from work to raise children. The spouse who stayed home may have limited earning potential, reduced career prospects, and years of lost professional development. Spousal support exists to account for that reality, recognizing the vulnerable financial situation the marriage created.
Maintaining a Comparable Standard of Living
A couple’s lifestyle during a marriage is an important factor that determines the amount owing for spousal support. When determining how much is owed, the standard of living of the couple during the marriage must be considered. While nobody is guaranteed the same lifestyle after a divorce, the law will not permit one spouse to live a grand lifestyle while the other spouse lives in poverty. As much as possible, spousal support should allow each person to live a comparable lifestyle after the divorce.
The Power Couple: When Both Spouses Have Successful Careers
The Power Couple: When Both Spouses Have Successful Careers
In many high-income families, both spouses work as professionals with comparable earnings. These relationships, often referred to as “power couples,” present a different set of considerations when it comes to spousal support.
Where incomes are roughly equal, there may be little or no economic imbalance between spouses following separation. In these cases, spousal support may not be owed at all, or if it is payable, the amount and duration are often more limited than in marriages where one spouse earned significantly more than the other.
That said, equal incomes do not automatically mean equal outcomes. Career interruptions, time taken away from work for childcare, and differences in earning potential all factor into the analysis. A thorough review of each spouse’s financial position is still essential before any conclusions can be drawn.
Spousal Support Explained
Browse our library of short videos on spousal support law in Alberta, including how income, assets, and marriage length affect your case, straight from an experienced Calgary divorce lawyer.
