A financial statement is a sworn document that outlines one person’s income, monthly budget and the assets and debts that they own on the date of marriage, date of separation and today. It assists in assessing claims to support and property division.

While it is a document used in court, it is also used for out of court settlement discussions.

A matrimonial home is the house that a married couple live in at the time of separation. It must be a property that is in Ontario. More than one home can qualify as a matrimonial home. For example, if both spouses also regularly use a cottage at the time of separation.

Matrimonial homes get special treatment in Ontario in that irrespective of ownership, one spouse can be given a right to exclusively possess the home to the exclusion of the other. This is often time limited and based on the circumstances, including whether it’s in the best interests of the child(ren).

The other differing treatment is that in the equalization (property division) calculation, a party does not get to deduct the matrimonial home if it was owned on the date of marriage and it remains a matrimonial home on the date of separation.

The term “matrimonial home” does not apply to common law spouses; only to married spouses.

While there’s some special treatment, matrimonial homes are not deemed to be owned equally. Rather, it is by ownership (how title is held) and the home will form part of the equalization calculation.

In Ontario, married spouses are entitled to equalize their property. It is a misconception, however, that everything simply gets divided equally. Rather, property is equalized through a calculation. A document called a Net Family Property statement is prepared, which includes both parties’ assets and debts as of the date of marriage and date of separation. Assets are subtracted from the debts on each date to arrive at a net number. The net value of assets and debts on the date of marriage then gets deducted from the net value on the date of separation, to arrive at the spouse’s net family property. The spouse who has the greater net family property pays to the other half of the difference.