S. Bookman

The applicant father sought costs following the settlement of a Hague Convention application for the return of the children to the Netherlands.

The respondent mother had heavily resisted the application and brought an unsuccessful motion to adjourn the hearing.

The court noted the mother's lack of corroborating evidence for her claims of abuse and grave risk of harm, contrasting it with the father's extensive corroborating affidavits.

The court awarded the applicant father partial indemnity costs of $15,000 for the application, $2,000 for the adjournment motion, and ordered the previously awarded $5,000 to be payable forthwith, for a total of $22,000.

The applicant brought a motion under Family Law Rule 11(3) seeking leave to amend her application to include a claim under s. 5(6) of the Family Law Act.

The proposed amendment alleged that following separation the respondent transferred substantial funds from a corporation owned directly or indirectly by the applicant to a corporation owned by the respondent.

The respondent opposed the amendment on the basis that the corporations involved should be added as parties to the proceeding.

The court held that amendments should be permitted unless the responding party would suffer non-compensable prejudice, and found that the s. 5(6) claim could be adjudicated without adding the corporations.

The motion to amend was therefore granted.