In a Hague Convention application, the court held that the younger child’s habitual residence remained Naples, Florida notwithstanding an extended visit to Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applying the hybrid habitual residence approach, the court found the child had been wrongfully retained in Ontario after the end of the school year and that the evidence did not establish maternal consent or acquiescence to a change of residence.
The court rejected reliance on the child objection exception under Article 13(2), concluding the child had not attained sufficient age and maturity for his views to govern the return analysis.
The application was allowed and the child was ordered returned immediately to Florida, with costs presumptively to the successful mother.
