During a family law trial, the respondent sought to qualify his long-time accountant as an expert to provide opinion evidence on his income for spousal support purposes.
The applicant opposed the request on the basis that the evidence was not necessary and the accountant lacked independence.
The court applied the Mohan and White Burgess frameworks and concluded that the proposed expert evidence was not necessary.
Furthermore, the court found the accountant lacked specific expertise in support income determination and lacked the requisite independence and impartiality, having served as the respondent's accountant for nearly four decades.
The request to admit the expert opinion evidence was denied.
