By Gary S. Joseph ( April 15, 2025, 12:34 PM EDT) -- Family lawyers have all experienced the frustration of advising a spouse that our courts do not have jurisdiction, either under the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act, to grant spousal support if a valid divorce has been granted in a foreign jurisdiction. Every family lawyer must be familiar with the Court of Appeal decisions in Rothgiesser v. Rothgiesser, 2000 128 O.A.C. 302, and Okmyansky v. Okmyansky, 2007 ONCA 427. Both cases support the view that no jurisdiction to grant spousal support exists in the face of a prior valid foreign divorce....