B. Culp

The respondent father brought a motion for joint custody and primary care of the parties' two-year-old child.

The court had previously ordered the parties to submit intake forms to the Office of the Children's Lawyer (OCL) and strongly recommended a section 112 investigation.

The applicant mother refused to submit the forms, and her counsel argued she had the right to decline the investigation.

The court found this non-compliance disturbing, drew an adverse inference against the mother, and expressed concern over her mental health issues and lack of evidence regarding the child's needs.

The court ordered both parties to submit the OCL forms within 10 days, adjourned the custody motion, and directed counsel to prepare submissions on why costs should not be awarded against the mother's counsel personally.

Following an order declaring the respondent incapable of managing property and appointing a guardian, the parties sought costs.

The court determined that the applicant, whose application initiated the process, and the section 3 counsel appointed for the incapable person, were entitled to their costs.

The court ordered that the costs of the applicant on a partial indemnity basis and the section 3 counsel on a full indemnity basis be paid out of the incapable person's estate.