ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
FAMILY LAW
COURT FILE NO.: FS-10-362089
DATE: 20120709
BETWEEN:
FARID BOUTROS, Applicant – and – HODA BOUTROS, Respondent
Paul McInnis , Counsel for the Applicant
Andrea Di Battista , Counsel for the Respondent
HEARD: APRIL 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 30, 2012
JUDGMENT: GREER J. :
[ 1 ] The Applicant, Farid Boutros (“the Husband”), brought on an Application dated August 30, 2010, and served the Respondent, Hoda Boutros (“the Wife”), asking for a Divorce, joint custody of the parties’ three children or sole custody if the Wife refuses to agree to joint custody. He also asks for an Order for the sale of the parties’ matrimonial home and for an Order dispensing with the Wife’s consent to the sale if she refuses to co-operate, if the Court orders such sale. Lastly, the Husband asks for an equalization of the parties’ net family properties.
[ 2 ] In her Answer, the Wife asked that the Husband’s claim be dismissed with Costs. She then makes claims of her own. The Wife is agreeable to the Divorce proceeding but not until after all claims are settled or determined. She asks for spousal support for herself, sole custody of the children, child support, an unequal division of the parties’ net family properties, exclusive possession of the matrimonial home and its contents, a freezing of the Husband’s assets, and a sale of family property (but not the matrimonial home). Lastly, the Wife asks for guardianship of the children’s property, although there was none at the time of Trial.
Some background facts
[ 3 ] The parties were married on August 1, 1993. The Wife says they separated in July 2008 and the Husband says they separated in January 31, 2010. There are three children of the marriage, namely Jacqueline now 16 years of age, and the twin sons, Zachary and Jacob, who are now 11 years of age. The parties continue to both occupy the matrimonial home at 89 Forest Grove Drive, Toronto (“the home”). The Wife is 46 years of age and the Husband 47 on June 10, 2012.
[ 4 ] The Husband was born in Cairo, Egypt. He has one sister who was also born in Egypt and lives there with her husband their two daughters. The sister is a Pharmacist. The Husband’s two parents now live in Canada and he sponsored them to come to live here. He continues to support them financially.
[ 5 ] The Husband is a medical doctor, having graduated from medical school in Egypt. He took up family medicine for one year. He then applied for residency in general surgery and spent two years at it before he came to Canada in 1993. He met his Wife when she was visiting in Egypt in 1992. They married on August 1, 1993. After arriving in Canada the Husband specialized in endocrinology and metabolism. He practices medicine at the Scarborough General Hospital. From September 2007 to July 2009, the Husband was the Chief of Medicine at that Hospital. He says that this position was extremely demanding and left him with little time for his family.
[ 6 ] The Wife grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where her father was a Professor at Lakehead University. In 1989 the Wife obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology. After graduation, the Wife began working for the Canadian Government in Citizenship and Immigration and continued working there before the twins were born. She stopped working in 2000. She says she earned about $33,000 a year at that job. She lived with her parents until she and the Husband married and paid no expenses while she lived there.
[ 7 ] During the period after the Wife ceased working, the parties had a nanny for 7 years assisting the family. It is the Husband’s position that the Wife should now be working to assist the family financially. The Wife says that given the learning issues the twins have, she is required to remain at home to assist with them.
[ 8 ] The Wife says she greatly assisted her Husband while he was obtaining his specialization as an Endocrinologist. She claims she saved her money while working and gave it to her parents, so that she had $40,000 coming into the marriage. There is no evidence to support this contention. In 1998, when the parties purchased their first home at $335,000 they put $90,000 down with $40,000 from her parents, she says, $40,000 from her savings held by parents, and $20,000 from her RRSP. The Husband concedes that he only put $10,000 towards the down payment on the house. The Wife said the down payment in total was $90,000 but her figures add up to $100,000. There is an evidentiary problem in crediting the Wife with money coming into the marriage, as she only has evidence of her RRSP of $4,466.22.
[ 9 ] The parties lived with the Wife’s parents for the first two years of their marriage, says the Wife. She also says she looked after everything while the Husband worked towards his specialist qualification in Ottawa. They then leased an apartment there for him for two years and the Wife says she paid all the expenses and looked after everything. The Wife lived in Toronto with her parents and was there when Jacqueline was born.
[ 10 ] The twins are currently attending the Merle Levine Academy, a private school, and have been there since September 2009. The basic cost of the Academy is $45,000 per year per child. They are enrolled in the Academy for the 2012 school year beginning in September.
[ 11 ] The parties’ daughter, Jacqueline, is completing Grade 10 at Earl Haigh High School. The Husband describes her as very mature and able, achieving an average over 90%. The Wife says that Jacqueline is very involved in extracurricular activities in high school and involved in several clubs. She is a well-adjusted child who seems to get along well with both parents.
(…continued verbatim in the same structure through paragraph [188]…)
Greer J.
Released: July 9, 2012
COURT FILE NO.: FS-10-362089
DATE: 20120709
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE FAMILY LAW
BETWEEN:
FARID BOUTROS, Applicant – and – HODA BOUTROS, Respondent
JUDGMENT
Greer J.
Released: July 9, 2012