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Paternal aunt granted virtual access to niece over surviving mother's objections following father's death.
The applicant paternal grandmother brought a motion for access to her nine-year-old granddaughter following the death of the child's father.
The respondent mother consented to virtual access for the grandmother but opposed the participation of the child's paternal aunt, citing concerns about being undermined.
Applying the Chapman framework, the court found that the aunt had a positive relationship with the child, the mother's decision to terminate access was arbitrary and stemmed from estate litigation rather than parenting concerns, and the mother's actions imperiled the relationship.
The court granted the motion, allowing the aunt to participate in the virtual access visits.
Court determines self-employed parent's income but declines to order retroactive repayment of support overpayments due to hardship.
The parties sought a final determination of child and spousal support payable for 2014, 2015, and 2016 by way of a long motion.
The applicant father, a self-employed business owner, sought to have his income determined for support purposes, while the respondent mother argued he was unreasonably deducting personal expenses from his business income.
The court imputed income to the applicant by adding back portions of his claimed meals, telephone, vehicle, and home office expenses.
The court also imputed income to the respondent based on forgiven student loans.
Although the court's income findings revealed that the applicant had significantly overpaid both child and spousal support under prior temporary orders, the court declined to order retroactive adjustments, finding that requiring the respondent to repay the amounts would cause undue hardship.
