Russell I. Alexander

The applicant mother and respondent father separated after a high-conflict marriage.

The mother sought sole custody of their two children, while the father sought joint custody and shared parenting.

The court found that the parents' inability to communicate and cooperate ruled out joint custody or parallel parenting.

The mother was granted sole custody and final decision-making authority, as she had demonstrated a more child-focused approach to the children's medical and academic needs.

The father's access was expanded to include more meaningful time, and he was ordered to pay child support based on the Federal Child Support Guidelines.

Following the settlement of a motion to change child and spousal support, both parties sought full recovery of their costs.

The moving party sought to terminate spousal support, while the responding party initially refused to acknowledge the moving party's right to a review.

The court found divided success and criticized both parties for unreasonable behavior and lack of civility.

Finding that the responding party's initial aggressive position tipped the scale slightly in the moving party's favour, the court awarded the moving party fixed costs of $2,500.