2 total
Successful father received reduced all-inclusive costs of $11,000.
This was a family law costs ruling following motions concerning overnight parenting time, a s. 30 assessment, and assistance from the Office of the Children’s Lawyer.
The court held that the father was largely successful and was presumptively entitled to costs under Rule 24 of the Family Law Rules, but declined to award substantial indemnity costs solely because he had bettered an all-or-nothing offer to settle.
The court found the mother had unreasonably persisted in resisting overnight access despite professional consensus, while also recognizing her limited partial success on the OCL issue.
After reducing the amount claimed as excessive, the court fixed costs in the father's favour at $11,000 all inclusive, payable within 60 days.
Mother's request for a section 30 assessment denied; father granted interim overnight access.
The parties separated in 2013 and have two children.
The mother sought an order for a section 30 assessment under the Children's Law Reform Act to evaluate the father's parenting abilities, citing concerns about his mental health and alleged drug use, and opposed his request for overnight access.
The father opposed the assessment and sought increased, overnight access on a step-up basis.
The court dismissed the mother's request for a section 30 assessment, finding it prohibitively expensive and unnecessary given the existing professional evidence from the Children's Aid Society and the father's treating psychiatrist, both of whom indicated no safety concerns.
The court requested the involvement of the Office of the Children's Lawyer and granted the father interim overnight access, finding it to be in the children's best interests.
