Alexandra Forsyth-Sells

Following the striking of the respondent father's parenting time claim due to repeated failure to complete a court-ordered supervised access intake process, the court addressed costs.

The mother, represented through Legal Aid Ontario, sought costs of $6,321 payable directly to Legal Aid Ontario.

The father proposed $300.

The court found the father acted unreasonably by abandoning his claim and failing to comply with multiple court orders, though the bad faith threshold was not met.

Applying the factors under subrule 24(14) of the Family Law Rules and accounting for the father's limited means through a payment schedule, the court awarded costs of $3,955 inclusive of fees, disbursements, and HST, payable at $100 per month.

The court declined to make costs payable directly to Legal Aid Ontario, holding that costs are payable to the successful party and the court should not involve itself in the retainer arrangement between a litigant and legal aid.

The applicant sought to assess the legal accounts of her former lawyers more than two years after the retainer ended and the accounts were paid.

The respondent lawyers brought a motion to strike the assessment application as statute-barred under the Solicitors Act.

The court granted the motion to strike, finding no special circumstances to justify the delay and noting prejudice to the respondents.

However, the court granted the applicant's cross-motion, ordering the respondents to return the remaining balance of funds held in trust.

The plaintiff, Ms. Arias, sought a declaration of sole ownership of a home jointly titled with her former spouse, Mr. Sanchez, based on resulting trust, constructive trust, and proprietary estoppel.

Mr. Sanchez had co-signed the mortgage but made minimal financial contributions, while Ms. Arias bore the vast majority of expenses and repaid loans used for the down payment and to clear Mr. Sanchez's debts.

The court found Ms. Arias's evidence credible and Mr. Sanchez's evasive.

It concluded that Mr. Sanchez held his half-interest in trust for Ms. Arias, granting her sole ownership and dismissing Mr. Sanchez's application for partition and sale.