Ian R. Blain

The claimant sought $45,670.50 in child support arrears from the estate of her late ex-husband, dating back to a 1978 decree nisi.

The estate trustee contested the claim, arguing it was uncorroborated under s. 13 of the Evidence Act and partially statute-barred.

The court found the claimant's evidence of non-payment was corroborated by her current husband.

However, arrears accruing prior to January 1, 1984, were statute-barred under the former Limitations Act, and the doctrine of special circumstances did not apply to extend the period.

Applying the DiFrancesco factors, the court ordered the estate to pay the enforceable arrears of $20,275.

The father brought a motion to change seeking unsupervised access and a finding of contempt against the mother for allegedly failing to facilitate supervised access ordered on an interim basis.

The court held that contempt was not established because the evidentiary record did not demonstrate deliberate and wilful disobedience of the order beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court emphasized that custodial parents have a positive obligation to encourage access and criticized conduct that left the burden of persuading the child to attend visits on the supervisor.

The mother’s motion to vary the order to make the child’s attendance entirely voluntary was dismissed, while the existing order requiring supervised visits remained in force.

The court also authorized electronic communication between the father and the children subject to preservation and disclosure of the messages to the access supervisor.