Marta Ross

Following a successful Motion to Change regarding child support and income determination, the applicant mother sought costs.

The court found the mother was the successful party and that the father's unreasonable conduct regarding financial disclosure significantly increased the litigation costs.

The court awarded the mother costs of $204,913.81 on an elevated partial indemnity scale to reflect the father's unreasonable conduct.

Following a trial of competing motions to change, the court found a material change in circumstances based on significantly increased payor income and altered parenting arrangements.

The court rejected the respondent's financial disclosure as unreliable, imputed and averaged income using source-and-use analysis, corporate benefits, personal expenses paid through business, income-splitting, and adverse inferences arising from non-disclosure.

Child support was recalculated, including under s. 9 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines for shared parenting periods, but the court used a simple set-off because the expense evidence was too vague for a fuller Contino analysis.

Retroactive child support was awarded from August 1, 2016 in the amount of $222,484, ongoing support was fixed at $6,671 per month, section 7 expenses were apportioned 13/87, and the support obligations were secured against real property and corporate interests.

The respondent father brought a motion for summary judgment seeking a week-about parenting arrangement for his four children.

The court found a material change in circumstances due to the children's maturation and their expressed preferences for equal parenting time.

Summary judgment was granted for the three older children (aged 17, 15, and 13) to commence an alternating weekly parenting schedule, giving significant weight to their consistent views and the importance of maintaining sibling relationships.

However, for the youngest child (aged 7) who has ADD and expressed ambivalent views, the court determined that a genuine issue of material fact existed regarding his best interests, requiring a trial to resolve his parenting schedule.