B. L. Croll

The parties separated after a 32-year marriage marked by domestic violence.

The applicant wife sought an unequal division of net family property, arguing the respondent husband forced her to sign a joint line of credit and recklessly depleted the funds both before and after separation.

The court found the husband's conduct unconscionable and granted an unequal division, ordering that the wife receive half the proceeds of the matrimonial home without deduction for the line of credit debt.

The court also addressed occupation rent, setting it off against the husband's mortgage payments, and ordered the husband's lawyer to return trust funds improperly disbursed to the husband.

The applicant brought a motion for interim disbursements, a preservation order, and to lift a stay of enforcement of a temporary support order.

The court found that the respondent had been reticent in providing financial disclosure, necessitating the applicant to incur significant expert and legal fees to determine his true income.

To level the playing field, the court ordered the respondent to pay $60,000 as an interim disbursement under Rule 24(12) of the Family Law Rules.

The court declined to make a preservation order and ordered that the stay of enforcement remain in place, provided the interim disbursement is paid.