Christopher M. Murphy

The Children and Family Services for York Region brought a Status Review Application concerning two young children, E. and J., who were removed from their parents' care due to the mother's severe alcohol misuse and the father's schizophrenia and lack of parenting skills.

The Society sought final custody orders for the maternal grandmother (for E.) and the paternal aunt (for J.), which were granted.

The court found the children continued to be in need of protection and that permanent placements with the caregivers were in their best interests, emphasizing stability and continuity of care.

While the parents' plans for return were deemed unviable, the court made temporary access orders and adjourned the access portion of the trial to allow parties to develop a more workable plan, with conditions imposed on parents to address their issues and improve their support networks.

Following a long motion concerning temporary and retroactive spousal support, the court determined costs.

The primary issue in the underlying motion involved imputing income to both parties and relied on competing expert reports from income valuators.

Although the applicant was successful in obtaining a temporary spousal support order, neither party’s offer to settle closely matched the outcome.

Applying Rules 18 and 24 of the Family Law Rules and considering factors such as complexity, counsel rates, time spent, and reasonableness of behaviour, the court reduced the applicant’s claimed costs.

Costs were fixed at $15,000 plus HST and limited disbursements, while the substantial expert report expense was deferred to trial for determination.