COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO

CITATION: Punit v. Punit, 2023 ONCA 200

DATE: 20230321

DOCKET: COA-22-CV-0097

Fairburn A.C.J.O., Brown and Sossin JJ.A.

BETWEEN

Hamwattie Sandy Punit

Applicant (Appellant)

and

Raj Komar Punit

Respondent (Respondent)

Steven M. Bookman and Gillian H. Bookman, for the appellant

Rono A. Baijnath, for the respondent

Heard and released orally: March 17, 2023

On appeal from the judgment of Justice Andrew Pinto of the Superior Court of Justice, dated August 12, 2022, with reasons reported at 2022 ONSC 4641.

REASONS FOR DECISION

[1] This is an appeal from a decision dismissing a motion seeking net arrears for child and spousal support, as well as s. 7 expenses and granting a cross-motion to terminate all child and spousal support. The parties have not obtained a final order.[^1] In the circumstances, it is difficult to know with any precision the exact parameters of what is appealed from.

[2] In any event, the appellant raises numerous issues, all of which turn on the standard of review that governs in relation to family support decisions. The importance of finality in family law litigation, combined with the discretion involved in making support orders, requires significant deference to the decisions under review. An appeal court should only intervene where there is a material error, a serious misapprehension of the evidence, or an error of law. An appellate court is not entitled to overturn a support order simply because it would have made a different decision or balanced the factors differently: Hickey v. Hickey, 1999 CanLII 691 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 518, at para. 12.

[3] The motion judge’s reasons reveal no material or legal errors, or misapprehension of the evidence. His reasons demonstrate a detailed analysis of the law and facts, none of which, in our view, he misapprehended. All findings of fact arrived upon by the motion judge were available on the record. The reasons adequately explain why he arrived at the various conclusions he reached.

[4] The appeal is dismissed. Costs will be paid to the respondent in the amount of $10,000, all-inclusive.

“Fairburn A.C.J.O.”

“David Brown J.A.”

“L. Sossin J.A.”

[^1]: We note that there is an order dated August 31, 2022, where the motion judge ordered that an amount of $67,580.78, held in trust by Bookman Law Professional Corporation for the Respondent, be released to the Respondent’s lawyers.