M. Mottonen

The parties brought cross-motions to change interim custody and access orders regarding their four-year-old child.

The respondent mother sought to relocate with the child to North Bay or New Liskeard for employment and enroll him in junior kindergarten, while the applicant father sought to have the child reside primarily with him in Sudbury.

Applying the Gordon v. Goertz framework, the court found that the mother's employment opportunities and the child's need to start school constituted a material change in circumstances.

The court held it was in the child's best interests to remain in the primary care of the mother and relocate to North Bay, where she had family support and employment.

The father was granted significant access and a reduction in child support to offset travel costs.

The parties separated after a 14-year marriage with four children.

The mother sought sole custody and permission to relocate the children to Mississauga, while the father sought shared parenting.

The court granted sole custody to the mother but prohibited the relocation of the twins, emphasizing the maximum contact principle and the children's established ties in Sudbury.

The court imputed additional income to the father for child and spousal support purposes.

The mother's claim for a constructive trust over the father's pension, which survived his bankruptcy, was denied because the bankruptcy statute provided a juristic reason for the enrichment.

However, the court ordered the father to pay periodic spousal support upon his retirement to account for the pension's value.