Property division is complex.
Pension valuations, business interests, excluded property tracing, and unequal division claims all require legal analysis.
Based on Ontario's Family Law Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.3, ss. 4–5. NFP is approximate — pension valuations, business interests, and excluded property tracing require professional appraisal. This tool does not account for unequal division claims under s.5(6) FLA.
How this works — NFP Equalization formula
The Formula (Family Law Act ss. 4–5)
− (Net assets at date of marriage, excluding matrimonial home)
− (Excluded property)
Equalization Payment = (Higher NFP − Lower NFP) ÷ 2
If NFP calculates to a negative number, it is treated as $0 (s.4(5) FLA). The onus of proving a deduction or an exclusion is on the spouse claiming it (s.4(3) FLA).
The Matrimonial Home Exception
Where a spouse owned the matrimonial home on the date of marriage and it is still a matrimonial home on the valuation date, its marriage-date value cannot be deducted — the definition of net family property allows a date-of-marriage deduction for property "other than a matrimonial home" (s.4(1) FLA). Its full separation-date value, including any pre-marriage appreciation, therefore forms part of that spouse's NFP, and the difference between the two NFPs is then divided equally.
Excluded Property (s.4(2) FLA)
Section 4(2) excludes the value of the following property that a spouse owns on the valuation date — so post-acquisition growth in the excluded asset itself stays out of NFP, provided the property is still owned and can be traced.
| Type | Notes |
|---|---|
| Gifts & inheritances from a third person, received after the date of marriage | Excluded at valuation-date value. A matrimonial home is never excluded (para. 1) |
| Income from a gift or inheritance | Excluded only if the donor or testator expressly said so — otherwise it is included in NFP (para. 2) |
| Personal injury damages | Covers pain & suffering, nervous shock, mental distress, loss of guidance/care/companionship. The lost-income portion is NOT excluded (para. 3) |
| Life insurance proceeds | Proceeds, or a right to proceeds, payable on the death of the life insured (para. 4) |
| Traceable property | Property, other than a matrimonial home, into which the above can be traced (para. 5) |
| Property under a domestic contract | Must be expressly excluded by the agreement (para. 6) |
| Unadjusted pensionable earnings under the CPP | Excluded by statute (para. 7) |
Excluded property that was put into the matrimonial home loses its excluded status, because both the exclusion and the tracing rule carve out a matrimonial home.
Valuation Date
Generally the date the spouses separated with no reasonable prospect of resuming cohabitation (s.4(1) FLA).