James Hoare

The parties separated after a 24-year marriage.

The court resolved several contested issues regarding property division, child support, and spousal support.

The court found the husband had a 50% beneficial interest in a corporation held solely in the wife's name based on a resulting trust.

The court also determined the husband's income for child support purposes by attributing a portion of the pre-tax corporate income to him, rejecting his argument that all retained earnings were necessary for capital expenditures.

Finally, the court found the wife entitled to indefinite spousal support on both compensatory and non-compensatory grounds.

The parties separated after a 6.5-year marriage.

The court resolved corollary issues including equalization, child support, spousal support, and property damage.

The court found the applicant to be a highly uncredible witness.

The applicant's claims for child support and ongoing spousal support were dismissed, with the court finding the respondent did not stand in the place of a parent to her son, and that her entitlement to spousal support had expired.

The court awarded the respondent $120,000 in damages in tort, finding the applicant intentionally turned off the furnaces in the matrimonial home, causing the pipes to freeze and burst.

An equalization payment of $1,544,025 was ordered payable to the applicant, subject to significant credits in favour of the respondent.

The plaintiff, a minority shareholder and employee of a closely held construction management company, brought an action for wrongful dismissal and oppression after a contentious meeting where the majority shareholders claimed he resigned.

The court found the plaintiff was terminated without cause, as his emotional outburst did not constitute a clear and unequivocal resignation.

The court also found the majority shareholders engaged in oppressive conduct by unilaterally removing him as a director, withholding his shareholder loan, and failing to value his shares upon termination.

To rectify the oppression, the court valued the plaintiff's shares at the subsequent fiscal year-end, awarding $440,100 for the shares, $100,000 for pay in lieu of notice, and $75,000 in punitive damages for the defendants' high-handed conduct.

The respondent husband brought a motion to sever the divorce from corollary relief.

The applicant wife opposed the motion and brought a cross-motion requiring the respondent to pay the upfront costs of an updated joint expert income report.

The court dismissed the motion to sever, finding the respondent failed to prove the applicant would not be prejudiced regarding health benefits and noting the respondent's failure to comply with financial disclosure orders.

The court granted the applicant's cross-motion, ordering the respondent to fund the expert report upfront, subject to equalization.

No costs were awarded due to the applicant's counsel failing to follow court directions regarding written submissions.

Following a trial on a motion to change child and spousal support, both parties sought costs.

The court determined that the responding party (the original applicant) was the successful party, having successfully defended against the moving party's claims to drastically reduce his income for support purposes and terminate spousal support.

Comparing the final result to the various offers to settle, the court found the responding party's offers were reasonable while the moving party's offers were entirely unreasonable.

The court awarded the responding party partial indemnity costs fixed at $213,000, inclusive of disbursements and HST, noting the complexity of the case and the moving party's conduct.

The moving party father brought a motion to change to reduce child and spousal support, claiming a decrease in his farming income.

The responding party mother brought a cross-motion to increase support, citing his increased net worth.

The original 2010 consent order was based on an imputed income of $250,000.

The court found the father's cutting horse operation was a hobby, not a business, and attributed those corporate losses to his income, resulting in an available income of over $428,000.

However, because neither party could prove how the original $250,000 imputed income was calculated, both motions to change based on income fluctuations were dismissed.

Child support was varied to reflect children ceasing to be dependents.

Spousal support was correspondingly increased to offset the loss of child support and converted into a $250,000 lump sum to effect a clean break.

The plaintiffs brought a medical malpractice action against the deceased's family physician following the deceased's sudden cardiac death.

The plaintiffs alleged the physician breached the standard of care by failing to elicit symptoms of coronary artery disease during a periodic health examination and by failing to send a referral for a stress test.

The court found the physician met the standard of care during the examination.

While the physician admitted breaching the standard of care by failing to send the referral later, the court concluded this breach did not cause the death, as the deceased would not have received treatment before his death due to specialist wait times, and the fatal arrhythmia was likely caused by pre-existing scarring rather than an acute ischemic event.

The action was dismissed.

The plaintiffs, a grain elevator business and a seed business, sued their bank for refusing to advance funds to pay margin calls on their grain hedges.

The bank's refusal forced the plaintiffs to liquidate their hedges at a significant loss.

The plaintiffs argued the bank was required to give reasonable notice before refusing to advance funds, based on contract, negligence, and fiduciary duty.

The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the action, finding that the plaintiffs were in default of their loan agreements and overdrawn on their credit limits.

The court held that the bank had no contractual obligation to extend further credit, nor was there an implied term, duty of care, or fiduciary duty requiring the bank to provide reasonable notice before refusing to fund the margin calls.

The parties separated after a 20-year marriage during which the applicant worked as a bookkeeper for the respondent's construction business.

The court determined the value of the business at separation, rejecting the applicant's expert's inclusion of 'secured customer leads' as property under the Family Law Act.

The court also addressed retroactive and ongoing spousal and child support, imputing income to the respondent based on a three-year pattern and awarding the applicant high-range spousal support of $3,300 monthly due to strong compensatory and needs-based claims.

The applicant brought a motion for interim child and spousal support, and for the transfer of a property to joint names pursuant to an interim separation agreement.

The parties, both physicians, had a significant income disparity.

The court ordered the respondent to transfer the property to joint names, fixed the applicant's income at $60,000 and the respondent's income at $550,000, and ordered the respondent to pay $6,572 monthly in table child support, $10,500 monthly in spousal support, and 69.5% of section 7 expenses.