The appellant appealed a family arbitration award that dismissed his claim to reduce spousal support.
The arbitrator found that the termination of child support was a material change in circumstances, but its only effect was to improve the appellant's financial position, thus not justifying a decrease in spousal support.
The appellant argued the arbitrator erred by not applying the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAGs) to recalculate support.
The Superior Court dismissed the appeal, holding that under section 17(4.1) of the Divorce Act, a court must only make a variation justified by the material change, rather than conducting a de novo review.
Since the original consent order was not based on the SSAGs, they had no application to the variation.
