The Court of Appeal for Ontario heard an appeal concerning spousal support.
The husband appealed a Superior Court decision that significantly increased his lump sum spousal support obligation to the wife from an arbitration award.
The Court of Appeal found that both the appeal judge and the arbitrator erred in their application of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAGs).
The appeal judge failed to give deference to the arbitrator's findings and ignored relevant factors, while the arbitrator failed to adequately explain the departure from SSAGs.
The Court of Appeal substituted its own award, increasing the lump sum spousal support to $678,888 (from the arbitrator's $250,000, but less than the appeal judge's $1,893,603) and awarded the wife $100,000 in arbitration costs.