Are Separation Agreements Finally Final?
On April 17, 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada released the long-awaited judgment in Miglin v. Miglin [2003] S.C.J. No. 21, 2003 SCC 24, regarding separation agreements. All nine justices of the Supreme Court of Canada heard the appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal. Judgment for the majority of seven justices was written by Mr. Justice Bastarache and Madam Justice Arbour. Mr. Justice LeBel wrote the dissenting reasons for himself and Mr. Justice Deschamps. This decision has been awaited by family law practitioners because it represented an opportunity for the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify the proper approach to an application for spousal support under section 15.2 of the Divorce Act (Canada) where the spouses have executed a separation agreement releasing any future claim for spousal support. The state of the law regarding the certainty of separation agreements was previously governed by a trilogy of cases known as the Pelech trilogy. The cases in the Pelech trilogy were decide
