On a practical basis, there is frequently a give and take in negotiations between spouses in which less of a property settlement is paid or received in return for an equivalent reduction or increase in a property settlement.
However, in the event that the parties cannot settle, it is not within the courts’ jurisdiction to offset a property settlement, formally known as an equalization payment against a right to future child support. This was clearly stated by Justice Shaw in the recent decision of Plimmer vs. Burke. The court does have the ability to stretch out an equalization payment for as much as ten years if the court finds it is too onerous to make an equalization payment in a single lump sum.
Moral, what one can do by way of negotiated settlement and formalized in a separation agreement is far wider than a court imposed solution.
