Leah Messer, an 18 year-old, and one of the teenagers featured on MTV’s
reality series,
16 and Pregnant and
Teen Mom, has filed for divorce from her husband and the father of her twins, Cory
Simms, 20. The couple found out that Leah was pregnant with twins at the
age of 16 after only having dated for a month. Their entire relationship,
including the breakups, make-ups, the birth of their twin girls, their
engagement and their wedding was documented as part of the two reality
shows. Now it seems as though their divorce will play out in the public
eye as well. Leah and Cory, who got married on October 18, 2010, have
one-year-old twins, Aliannah and Aleeah. Aliannah has been diagnosed with
a developmental disorder and it is currently unknown whether she will
ever be able to walk. Leah filed for divorce on April 14, 2011, but the
reason cited for the split is still unknown as the documents are not public
record currently.
The Law in Ontario
If Leah and Cory were divorcing in Ontario, Leah would have filed a Court
document known as an Application. This document commences the Court action
and sets out the claims for relief that an individual is seeking in their
matter. Without knowing the details of this case, it can be assumed that
the following issues will be dealt with as a part of Leah and Cory’s
separation and divorce:
1) Custody of and a Parenting Plan for Aleeah and Aliannah
In Canada, custody refers to the legal decision making for the child(ren)
in question. In this matter, it is not known whether Leah has requested
sole or joint custody of the twins. If she was seeking sole custody in
Canada, this would mean that she is looking to have the sole responsibility
for the decision making for the children. If she was seeking joint custody,
then she and Cory would be able to jointly make the major decisions regarding
the twins including matters such as their religious upbringing, schooling,
or medical care. Conversely, sole custody would mean that she would be
requesting to be the sole decision maker for the twins.
When dealing with parenting arrangements for children, there are various
options that the parties can agree to. The more common arrangements include
one parent having the children reside primarily with him/her with the
other parent having care of the child(ren) for a specified duration, usually
on weekends, or the parents sharing the care of the child whereby neither
parent would have the child less than 40% of the time. The court documents
for this case are not public record and there have been no reports on
the claims that Leah made for the parenting arrangements.
2) Child Support
In Ontario, the
Child Support Guidelines presumptively determine the amount that is to be paid in support obligations.
The determination of the quantum of support payable, as per the
Guidelines is generally based on the following:
-
The number of “children of the marriage”; as defined by the
Divorce Act, or the dependants to be cared for when the
Divorce Act does not apply; and - The payor parent’s line 150 income as per their annual Income Tax Return.
In this case, there are two children of this marriage. With respect to
the payor parent, this is determined based on who the primary residence
parent is. If it is decided that the children are to live primarily with
Leah, then Cory would be the payor parent. The reverse, therefore, would
also be true. Additionally, if the parties decide upon a shared parenting
schedule with the twins residing equally with both parents, then the amount
of what would be paid in child support would be based on what is known
as the “set-off” approach. The Court would look to the following
factors as outlined in Section 9 of the
Child Support Guidelines in order to determine the appropriate amount of child support to Order:
- the amounts set out in the applicable Tables for each of the spouses;
- the increased costs of shared custody arrangements; and
- the conditions, means, needs and other circumstances of each spouse and
of any child for whom support is sought.
Without knowing the particular details regarding what Leah is requesting
regarding the parenting arrangements, it is difficult to comment further
regarding the quantum of support that either parent, or both will have
to pay to support the children.
3) Spousal Support
If either Leah or Cory were to bring a claim for spousal support, in Ontario,
the Court would first consider whether he/she was entitled to support.
In order to determine this entitlement the Court would look at such factors
as whether he/she is in need of support, or if he/she had made a contribution
to the marriage that requires he/she be compensated for it. The length
of the marriage is also a factor that will be taken into consideration.
Based on the known facts of this case, the parties are both very young.
Although they have both been involved in two reality tv series, it is
unknown how much they have earned, and it is unlikely that they have other
significant sources of income. If either party is able to show that he/she
contributed to the marriage in a way that he/she should be compensated
for, then a Court may determine that he/she is entitled to support from
the other. In this case, the fact that the parties were married for less
than six months at the time that Leah filed her documents with the court,
would also be taken into consideration. As the parties were only married
for 5 months when they separated, it would likely be difficult to show
that either contributed to the marriage in such a way that he/she should
be compensated for. Therefore, based on the limited known facts of this
case, it is difficult to say whether either party would be granted spousal
support. Visit our website for more
information on spousal support.
4) Equalization
In Ontario, when a couple separates there is a process known as equalization
whereby a calculation is completed to determine the amount which spouse
with more assets is obligated to pay the other. This calculation and payment
is completed in order to ensure that neither spouse leaves the marriage
better or worse off than the other. Not knowing anything about the couple’s
assets or liabilities, it is impossible to say which spouse would be responsible
for an equalization payment to the other, if any.
It is interesting to note that there has been mention of the fact that
Cory had taken a significant amount of money out of the couple’s joint
bank account to purchase a new truck for himself. This factor could be
taken into account when determining the equalization calculation in this
matter if Leah wanted to argue for an unequal division of the parties’
net family properties. It should be noted however, that meeting the test
associated with a claim for unequal division is very difficult and the
individual who makes the claim has the onus of proving why the parties
net family properties should not be divided equally. Because of this,
it is difficult to determine how Cory’s decision to purchase a truck
with money from the joint account would be dealt with.
5) The Matrimonial Home
In Ontario, the
Family Law Act states that regardless of how title of the home is held or how it was
brought into the marriage, if it has been made the matrimonial home by
the couple by their family living in it during the marriage, or determining
it to be such for tax purposes, each spouse has equal possessory rights
to the home. In this case, it is unknown whether there is a matrimonial
home which needs to be dealt with.