Jennifer Breithaupt Smith

The moving party father brought a motion to change a 2010 final order, seeking to rescind support arrears and recalculate child and spousal support based on his actual income, citing ongoing mental health issues (Bipolar Disorder) that limited his ability to work full-time.

The responding party mother argued for increased support based on the father's higher hourly wage.

The court found a material change in circumstances based on both the mental health diagnosis and the wage increase.

The court excused the father's intentional underemployment for several years due to his health needs but imputed income for recent years.

Spousal support was terminated effective June 30, 2019, and child support for the two adult children was adjusted based on their educational status.

The court declined to rescind the arrears entirely but reduced them based on the recalculations and ordered a monthly payment plan.

The Children's Aid Society brought a motion for summary judgment to place three children with their father under a six-month supervision order, with the mother's access to be supervised at the Society's discretion.

The father consented, and the mother did not actively oppose the motion.

The court applied the test for summary judgment in child protection proceedings, screened the evidence for admissibility (including business records and children's hearsay statements), and found no genuine issue requiring a trial.

The court concluded that the children continued to be in need of protection and that the proposed order was in their best interests.

The Children's Aid Society brought a motion for summary judgment seeking a four-month Supervision Order placing the 17-year-old child with her father until her 18th birthday.

The mother opposed the motion, arguing the children should never have been removed from her care in 2006.

The court found no genuine issue requiring a trial, noting the mother's failure to address her mental health issues and the child's clear wish not to have contact with her mother.

The court admitted the child's views through the Society worker's affidavit under the Khan test and granted the Supervision Order.

The applicant father brought a Motion to Change seeking to eliminate child support arrears accumulated between August 2016 and August 2018, arguing he was unable to work due to severe wrist pain and subsequent surgeries.

The respondent mother argued he should have found comparable work.

The court found that while the father was technically intentionally underemployed, his underemployment was reasonably required by his health needs under section 19(1)(a) of the Federal Child Support Guidelines.

The court fixed the arrears at $0.00 but declined to order the mother to reimburse funds already collected by the Family Responsibility Office.

The applicant father brought a motion for civil contempt against the respondent mother, alleging six breaches of a final parenting order.

The court found the mother in contempt for failing to enroll the child in an extracurricular activity and for failing to cooperate in obtaining a passport for the child.

The other alleged breaches were dismissed due to ambiguity in the order or the court exercising its discretion.

The mother was ordered to pay a $57 fine for the passport application fee and to enroll the child in specific extracurricular programs.