Roseanne Trivieri

A family law proceeding addressing child support where the custodial parent sought support and special expenses for a child.

The responding parent argued that religious beliefs exempted him from legal obligations to pay support and provided minimal financial disclosure while claiming near-zero income.

The court rejected pseudo-legal and religious arguments against the authority of Canadian law, referencing Meads v. Meads.

Finding the respondent intentionally unemployed and capable of working, the court imputed income pursuant to s. 19 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines.

Child support and limited s.7 special expenses were ordered based on the imputed income.

On an interim family law motion, the court addressed issues of spousal support, child support, corporate control, property taxes, and sale of the matrimonial home following separation.

The respondent sought imputation of income to the applicant and the sale of the matrimonial home, while the applicant sought support at the high range of the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines and joint signing authority over a jointly owned company.

The court declined to order the sale of the matrimonial home, finding the request premature given unresolved equalization issues and the presence of other assets.

The court set interim child and spousal support based on the respondent’s income and declined to impute income to the applicant while she pursued education to become self-supporting.

The applicant was granted joint signing authority on the company accounts.