Michelle Nagy

The appellant mother appealed a relocation order that granted primary residence of the children to the father in Lindsay, Ontario.

The mother argued the trial judge erred by bifurcating the trial (relocation before custody), misapplied relocation law, and failed to accommodate her disability.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the bifurcation was appropriate for the children's best interests, the relocation decision was well-supported by evidence and consistent with legal principles, and there was no error in refusing adjournments or accommodating the appellant.

The court emphasized the children's thriving in their new environment.

The parties separated after a high-conflict marriage.

The applicant mother sought sole decision-making responsibility, primary residence, and child support.

The respondent father sought joint or parallel decision-making, shared parenting time, and occupation rent.

The court found the father to be rigid, inflexible, and unable to co-parent effectively, awarding sole decision-making responsibility and primary residence to the mother.

The court imputed an annual income of $100,000 to the intentionally unemployed father for child support purposes and dismissed his claim for occupation rent.

The respondent father brought an interim motion to implement an expanded access schedule to the child, Brayden Calvin Hunt, as contemplated in a prior order from March 20, 2015.

The expanded access was conditional on access going well and no serious problems arising.

The applicant mother opposed the motion and sought a focused trial on the access issue.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer filed an interim report identifying concerns regarding the mother's mental health, the father's alcohol consumption, and parental conflict.

The court dismissed the father's interim motion, finding that the condition for expanded access had not been met and that a complete evidentiary record was required.

The court directed a trial management conference to organize a focused hearing on the access issue.