Rosemary Masemann

The applicant mother sought recognition of a Kuwaiti custody order and return of the parties' seven-year-old son to her care in Kuwait.

The respondent father opposed recognition, arguing that Kuwaiti law did not require consideration of the child's best interests and that the child's habitual residence had changed to Ontario.

The court recognized the Kuwaiti custody order, finding the respondent father failed to prove grounds for non-recognition.

The court also rejected arguments that habitual residence had changed or that serious harm would result from return, applying the hybrid approach to habitual residence and finding the child's habitual residence remained Kuwait.

The respondent father brought an interim motion to implement an expanded access schedule to the child, Brayden Calvin Hunt, as contemplated in a prior order from March 20, 2015.

The expanded access was conditional on access going well and no serious problems arising.

The applicant mother opposed the motion and sought a focused trial on the access issue.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer filed an interim report identifying concerns regarding the mother's mental health, the father's alcohol consumption, and parental conflict.

The court dismissed the father's interim motion, finding that the condition for expanded access had not been met and that a complete evidentiary record was required.

The court directed a trial management conference to organize a focused hearing on the access issue.