How is property divided between spouses when the court grants a dissolution of the marriage?
If no prior agreement has been reached by the spouses the court will apply the provisions of the Ontario Family Law Act to apportion the assets between the parties. Contrary to popular belief, the court does not merely split the assets down the middle on a 50-50 basis. Instead, it is the value of property accumulated by the two spouses during the course of the marriage which is divided equally after first deducting the value of property owned by each spouse as of the date of the marriage. Generally speaking, subject to certain exceptions, this allocation or equalization of property between the spouses is designed to award each spouse a one-half share of the value of the property acquired by both spouses during the marriage while allowing each spouse to retain the value of property they originally brought into the marriage.
