Peter Sammon

The applicant sought costs following a three-day family law trial regarding unjust enrichment, income imputation, and support.

The applicant successfully defended the respondent's unjust enrichment claim and had made a more advantageous offer to settle that issue prior to trial.

Due to divided success on the support issues, no costs were awarded for those claims.

The court ordered the respondent to pay the applicant $22,000 in costs on a full recovery basis for the unjust enrichment and resulting trust issues.

The trial addressed parenting and child support for two children.

The Applicant mother sought sole decision-making responsibility, primary care, and supervised parenting time for the Respondent father, alleging verbal, mental, and physical abuse, and serious mental health issues including pornography and gaming addictions.

The Respondent father denied the allegations and sought joint decision-making and unsupervised parenting time.

The court found extensive evidence of the father's abusive behavior, ongoing anger management issues, and significant untreated mental health concerns, including his unilateral cessation of antidepressant medication.

The court granted the mother sole decision-making responsibility and primary care, and ordered that the father's parenting time remain supervised for the foreseeable future, outlining a roadmap of programs and expert reports required for any future change in parenting time.

The court also determined ongoing child support and arrears based on the father's income, but declined to order a fixed contribution for special and extraordinary expenses.

This is a costs endorsement following an urgent motion where the mother successfully sought to reinstate parenting time with her child.

The mother requested substantial indemnity costs, which the father opposed, arguing his conduct was reasonable and the billings excessive.

The court found the mother was the successful party and presumptively entitled to costs.

The father's conduct, including inappropriately sending an offer to settle directly to the mother and withholding the child's visitation, was deemed unreasonable and warranted an elevated costs award.

The court also noted the father's attempt to relitigate the issue of urgency.

An elevated costs award of $3500 was deemed fair and reasonable.

The moving party mother brought an urgent motion for parenting time with her 18-month-old child, whom she had not seen for almost two months.

The responding party father supported parenting time but sought a gradual transition without proposing a specific schedule, while the mother sought an immediate move to shared parenting.

The court applied the best interests of the child factors under the Children's Law Reform Act and ordered a gradual transition to a shared, equal parenting schedule.

Following a judgment in favour of the plaintiffs by counterclaim for $181,448.80 against their brother for stripping assets from their late father's estate, the successful parties sought full indemnity costs.

The court declined to award full indemnity costs for the trial portion, noting the brother's pleadings had already been struck and he did not participate in the trial.

Costs were awarded on a substantial indemnity scale, fixed at $21,985.00 for one brother and $13,930.00 for the other.

This action involved a counterclaim by an estate and its beneficiaries against a former plaintiff for the conversion of estate assets.

The former plaintiff's initial claim was discontinued, and his defenses to the counterclaim were struck, leading to an assessment of damages.

The court determined the value of converted assets and, after accounting for the former plaintiff's residuary interest, granted judgment against him.

Remaining estate assets were ordered to be vested in the beneficiaries.

The applicant brought a motion to change custody and access orders four days after the court determined that the child was habitually resident in Quebec.

The applicant sought to invoke the exception to habitual residence under section 22(1)(b) of the Children's Law Reform Act.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the determination of habitual residence was res judicata and that the applicant had not demonstrated that the basis for the jurisdiction decision had changed.

The child had lived in Quebec for three years, attended school there, and had established substantial connections to that province.

The court directed future custody and access matters to be litigated in Quebec.

Following a successful family law motion, the applicant sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis.

The court found that the respondent had acted in bad faith by willfully disobeying a prior court order requiring payment of property taxes, thereby placing the matrimonial home at risk of municipal tax sale.

The respondent also failed to provide affidavit evidence explaining his non-compliance and did not respond to the applicant’s costs submissions.

Applying Rule 24 of the Family Law Rules, the court held that the respondent’s conduct warranted full recovery costs.

Costs were fixed and ordered payable forthwith.

The applicant spouse brought a motion seeking a vesting order transferring title to the matrimonial home after the respondent spouse failed to comply with a prior order requiring payment of outstanding property taxes.

The respondent, who held sole title, had allowed property taxes and insurance to lapse, placing the home at risk of tax sale despite the applicant and children having exclusive possession.

The court found the respondent’s non‑compliance was willful and rejected claims that he lacked funds, drawing an adverse inference from his failure to file responsive evidence.

Relying on ss. 9, 12, and 24 of the Family Law Act and s. 100 of the Courts of Justice Act, the court held it had jurisdiction to grant a vesting order to preserve the property pending equalization and other claims.

Title to the matrimonial home was ordered transferred to the applicant to allow payment of taxes, insurance, and preservation of the asset during the litigation.