Catherine Mariette Calvert

This decision concerns a costs award following a successful motion by the Applicant mother for temporary child support arrears and ongoing child support.

The Respondent father was found to owe significant arrears and had failed to provide financial disclosure, leading to income imputation and a finding of unreasonable behaviour and bad faith.

The court, applying Rule 24 of the Family Law Rules, considered the successful outcome for the applicant, the importance of child support, and the respondent's conduct.

While the applicant sought full indemnity costs, the court fixed costs at $8,732.63, inclusive of disbursements and HST, deeming this amount proportionate given the substantial retroactive and ongoing support awarded, and excluding clerical legal assistant fees.

The applicant sought a retroactive and prospective variation of child support and retroactive section 7 special expenses.

The court determined the respondent's income for ongoing and retroactive child support, setting the retroactive start date to October 1, 2013, based on effective notice.

The respondent's claim of undue hardship was rejected due to insufficient evidence.

The applicant's claim for retroactive section 7 expenses was denied due to lack of receipts and failure to establish necessity.

However, the respondent was credited for cell phone expenses paid for the child.

The court ordered retroactive child support of $24,634.00 and ongoing monthly child support, along with proportionate sharing of post-secondary education costs and maintenance of a life insurance policy.