Lourdes Geraldo

The parties, a high-income banker and a part-time physician, engaged in a high-conflict family law trial primarily concerning parenting time with their two teenage daughters, spousal support, and the partition and sale of the matrimonial home.

The mother alleged family violence and coercive control, while the father alleged parental alienation.

The court found neither extreme applied but noted the mother's diffidence in supporting the father's relationship with the children.

Respecting the children's ages and wishes, the court ordered daytime parenting time for the younger child but did not force the older child to participate.

The court imputed a full-time income of $550,000 to the mother but ordered the father to pay $20,000 per month in spousal support for 12.5 years, alongside $24,661 in monthly child support.

The mother's request for exclusive possession of the matrimonial home was dismissed, and partition and sale were ordered.

The respondent mother brought a motion seeking an order under subrule 4(7) of the Family Law Rules to authorize independent legal representation for the parties' two children.

The applicant father opposed the motion, arguing it was unnecessary and would delay the upcoming trial.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the children's views and preferences would be adequately ascertained through existing assessments and that adding another layer of professional intervention was not in their best interests.

The parties engaged in a high-conflict family law trial primarily concerning the custody and access of their two children.

The applicant mother sought sole custody, alleging the children were alienated from the respondent father and his new wife.

The respondent father sought sole custody, alleging the mother was alienating the children from him.

The court found both parties contributed to the conflict but determined the mother's evidence lacked credibility on several substantive issues.

The court awarded custody to the father with an equal timesharing arrangement, finding he was more likely to facilitate contact with the other parent.

The court also ordered ongoing therapeutic intervention to ensure a balanced relationship between the children and both parents, and determined the parties' incomes for child support purposes.

The applicant mother sought to relocate with the nine-year-old child of the marriage from Simcoe to Exeter, Ontario, to live with her fiancé and be closer to her extended family.

The child has type 1 diabetes and struggles with reading and writing.

The parties had been sharing parenting on a week-about basis.

The court applied the Gordon v. Goertz framework and found that the proposed move would require excessive driving, disrupting the child's life and the existing shared parenting arrangement.

The court concluded that the move was primarily for the mother's benefit and not in the child's best interests, dismissing the application.

The applicant father brought a motion for summary judgment seeking sole custody of his three children and an order forcing them into a reunification program (Family Bridges) with a 90-day no-contact period with the respondent mother.

The mother brought a cross-motion for summary judgment seeking sole custody and access at the children's discretion.

The court found no genuine issue for trial, concluding that the children's refusal to see their father was a justified estrangement resulting from his past violence, rather than parental alienation by the mother.

The court respected the strong and consistent views and preferences of the children, dismissed the father's motion, and granted the mother's motion for sole custody with access at the children's discretion.

The applicant mother sought leave to appeal a temporary order that granted the respondent father overnight parenting time on Tuesdays.

The applicant argued the motions judge erred in her use of a custody and access assessment report.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the motions judge properly considered the assessment report under the Children's Law Reform Act and that the applicant failed to meet the test for leave to appeal.

Costs were awarded to the respondent on a substantial indemnity basis.

In a high-conflict family law trial, the applicant father sought sole custody of the parties' three children, alleging severe parental alienation by the respondent mother.

The court found overwhelming evidence that the mother had alienated the eldest child and that the younger children were at risk.

The court granted sole custody to the father and ordered the immediate implementation of a Phase II reunification program, which included a 90-day no-contact period between the children and the mother.

The father was also permitted to relocate with the children to Toronto.

Additionally, the court imputed an income of $40,000 to the mother for support purposes, ordered her to pay child support, ordered the father to pay spousal support, and resolved various net family property issues, including the valuation and treatment of a jointly leased cottage.

The self-represented appellant father appealed a summary judgment order granting sole custody of the two teenaged children to the respondent mother, with access at the children's discretion.

The father argued the motion judge erred in hearing the summary judgment motion after the matter was set for trial, in applying the evidentiary burden, and in assessing the children's best interests.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the motion judge correctly applied the summary judgment framework and properly considered the children's best interests, including their expressed wishes not to have court-ordered access with the father.