Chris Mamo

The applicant husband and respondent wife built a real estate corporate empire during their marriage.

Following their separation, the wife claimed her mother beneficially owned the subject corporations and relied on a 2007 marriage contract to exclude the assets from net family property.

The court found the husband was the beneficial owner of four of the corporations and a 50% owner of the fifth, determining the mother was merely a nominee.

The court also set aside the marriage contract, finding the parties had abandoned it by mutual agreement in 2008.

The wife's post-separation actions to seize control of the corporations were found to be oppressive under the Business Corporations Act.

The applicant brought a motion to reopen the evidentiary portion of the trial to admit two documents concerning loans made to relevant corporations.

The documents were in the parties' possession prior to and throughout the trial.

The court dismissed the motion, finding it was a collateral attack on a prior order that permitted a pleading amendment but expressly prohibited further trial evidence.

The court also held that issue estoppel applied and that the marginal probative value of the documents was outweighed by the prejudice of further delay and expense.