Philip M. Epstein

The deceased was subject to court orders requiring him to pay spousal and child support and to maintain his wife as the irrevocable beneficiary of his life insurance policy.

After separation, the deceased entered into a relationship with another woman whose child was born three months after his death.

The deceased left an insolvent estate.

The other woman brought an application for dependants' relief seeking to claw back the life insurance proceeds into the estate under section 72(1)(f) of the Succession Law Reform Act.

The wife sought a declaration that the policy did not form part of the estate or that she was a creditor whose rights were protected under section 72(7) of the Act.

The trial judge and Divisional Court held the policy formed part of the estate.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that section 72(7) excludes from the claw back the amount of proceeds required to satisfy the deceased's court-ordered spousal and child support obligations where the support recipient was designated as the irrevocable beneficiary.

The respondent father brought a motion seeking an accounting of assets transferred to the applicant mother to satisfy a net family property equalization order, as well as temporary spousal support payable to him and potential striking of the mother's pleadings for non‑compliance.

The motion arose in the context of a 1998 final order granting the mother substantial equalization and support entitlements following a long marriage.

The court held that while the father could seek disclosure relating to credits against the equalization judgment, he had not utilized available disclosure mechanisms under the Family Law Rules and had not provided updated financial disclosure required for a motion to change support.

The court also found no sufficient explanation for the father’s request to terminate and reverse spousal support obligations after many years.

The motion was dismissed, with disclosure issues left to proceed through normal procedural mechanisms.

Pre-trial motion decision in a family law matter concerning a motion to change a prior order that granted the applicant custody of two children and denied the respondent access.

The respondent sought to vary the order based on completion of substance abuse treatment.

The court addressed multiple pre-trial motions including: permission for the applicant and her spouse to participate in cross-examination via Skype from Denmark; disclosure of police records concerning the respondent; extensive mutual disclosure requests; and whether to set aside or stay prior court orders.

The court permitted Skype cross-examination based on financial hardship and the balance of convenience, ordered disclosure of police records with court screening, granted mutual disclosure requests, and stayed the order requiring production of children for supervised access while declining to set aside the original custody order.