Tamara K. Stomp

This is a costs decision arising from a mid-trial motion in a family law proceeding.

The applicant sought interim orders regarding parenting time and fall school enrolment for two children.

The applicant was successful on the school enrolment issue but the parenting time award was a compromise between the parties' positions.

The court awarded costs to the applicant on a partial indemnity basis, considering the applicant's success on one of two issues, the reasonableness of both parties' conduct, the disparity in incomes, and the time spent by counsel.

The applicant father sought an urgent motion for access to his daughter, Sophie, alleging the respondent mother was not adhering to a prior consent order for shared parenting.

The motion was brought under the COVID-19 emergency protocol, requiring a determination of urgency.

The court declined to rule on urgency immediately, instead directing a case conference to be scheduled to discuss the access issues, with a ruling on urgency to follow if the motion remained necessary after the conference.

The respondent father brought an urgent motion seeking compliance with existing parenting orders after the applicant mother began withholding the children.

The court, operating under COVID-19 emergency protocols, assessed the motion's urgency.

It determined that the matter met the criteria for urgency, relating to the children's well-being and alleged wrongful retention, and allowed the motion to proceed, setting a schedule for materials and a hearing date.