Court File and Parties
COURT FILE NO.: 161/07 (Guelph) DATE: 2016 06 23
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE – ONTARIO
RE: STEPHEN WALLACE JAMIESON and ANTONIA TRACY JAMIESON
BEFORE: Van Melle, J.
COUNSEL: Stephen Wallace Jamieson, self-represented Antonia Tracy Jamieson, self-represented
HEARD: June 17, 2016
E N D O R S E M E N T
[1] I met with the parties on June 17, 2016 to “tweak” the 5 year access schedule that I had provided for them. With their assistance we were able to finalize the schedule. I am attaching a copy of the revised schedule. After the meeting on June 17, Ms. Jamieson forwarded a “screen shot” of the school schedule. She did not say if that schedule would affect in any way the 5 year schedule. I have compared the two and find that it does not.
[2] The parties ask that I decide some timing issues. For the sake of clarity on a P.D. day or a holiday Ms. Jamieson’s access to Stephen starts at 9:00 a.m. So her access on June 30, July 15, August 13 and August 19, 2016 will commence at 9:00 a.m. On August 19 her access starts at 5:00 p.m. For the summer the return time for Stephen will be 8:15 p.m. The parties are reminded to be on time.
[3] Now, as always, we are left with the question of the amount of child support that should be paid by Ms. Jamieson to Mr. Jamieson for Stephen. Pursuant to my order of November 12, 2015, Ms. Jamieson was to provide the following within 30 days of that date:
- Her 2012 Notice of Assessment or re-assessment
- 2014 complete Income Tax Return and Notice of Assessment or reassessment
- If she wished to advance a hardship claim she was to provide the calculation within 30 days as well
[4] As usual, Ms. Jamieson provided some, but not all, the information by that due date (which was far later than the information was to originally have been provided). Income tax information and some Notices of Assessment were missing.
[5] Mr. Jamieson was to provide all receipts for daycare for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 within 30 days. Mr. Jamieson did in fact provide the receipts for 2015. The other receipts from previous years were in the court file along with the Income Tax Returns and calculation of the after tax daycare costs.
[6] By June 17 Ms. Jamieson had provided all the documentation required to calculate her child support obligation.
[7] In the email sent by Ms. Jamieson containing the screen shot of the school vacation schedule, she also stated that we had failed to address the daycare issue on June 17. Mr. Jamieson had however, produced all his Income Tax Returns with a calculation as to the after tax cost of the daycare. I accept his figures.
[8] I have used the following numbers to calculate the amount that Ms. Jamieson owes to Mr. Jamieson:
| Ms. Jamieson | Line 150 Income | Child Support based on Line 150 |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 56,066 | 509 |
| 2013 | 63,905 | 583 |
| 2014 | 65,075 | 595 |
| 2015 | 67,223 | 615 |
| Mr. Jamieson | Line 150 income | Ms. Jamieson’s Contribution should be: | Mr. Jamieson’s after-tax daycare expenses | Ms. Jamieson’s contribution should have been: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 69,490 | 44.3% | 3,050.28 | 1,351.27 |
| 2013 | 81,246 | 43.8% | 1,155.55 | 506.13 |
| 2014 | 77,378 | 45.4% | 1,137.27 | 516.32 |
| 2015 | 81,371 | 45% | 558.99 | 251.54 |
[9] Ms. Jamieson has been paying $450.00 per month for child support and $95 toward daycare (based on $50,000 per year) since 2012. Even though I ordered that income tax information was to be exchanged every year, Ms. Jamieson has not done so.
[10] Ms. Jamieson’s contribution to daycare was based on her having 31.5% of the parties’ disposable income for the purposes of contribution to s. 7 expenses.
[11] Ms. Jamieson advances an undue hardship claim and submits that her contribution to daycare expenses should be eliminated and that her child support obligation should be reduced to somewhere between $500 and $545 per month. In support of her claim, and pursuant to my direction, she did provide the required worksheet for the undue hardship claim. The required worksheet is a starting point only as one can only claim undue hardship, if the standard of living in the payor’s household is lower than the standard of living in the recipient’s household. That however is not the end of the enquiry. Undue hardship must also be established. Some of the considerations are set out in s. 10(2) of the Federal Child Support Guidelines. The circumstances that may cause undue hardship include:
(a) The spouse has responsibility for an unusually high level of debts reasonably incurred to support the spouses and their children prior to the separation or to earn a living;
(b) The spouse has unusually high expenses in relation to exercising access to a child;
(c) The spouse has a legal duty under a judgment, order or written separation agreement to support any persons;
(d) The spouse has a legal duty to support a child, other than a child of the marriage;
(e) The spouse has a legal duty to support any person who is unable to obtain the necessaries of life due to an illness or disability.
[12] The only circumstance enumerated here that could apply is 10(2)(d). Ms. Jamieson has a daughter from a subsequent relationship who lives with her. She does, however, receive child support from the child’s father. She also receives a Universal Child Care Benefit for her daughter.
[13] The enumerated list is of course not exhaustive. The list does demonstrate the kinds of circumstances that a court should take into account. None of these circumstances apply to this case. Undue hardship has not been established. As set out above, Ms. Jamieson’s total 2015 income was $67,223. Her earned income from employment was $68,995.27. She was able to deduct business expenses relating to a photography business. I have not added any amounts back to her Line 150 Income to take into account business expenses which are properly claimed for Income tax purposes, but could be added back in for the calculation of child support in any of the years we are dealing with.
[14] I find that Ms. Jamieson has underpaid child support in the amount of $6,024. She has overpaid her contribution to daycare in the amount of $1,934.74. In the result Ms. Jamieson must pay Mr. Jamieson $4,089.26 which would bring payments current to the end of 2015. Her child support for 2016 will be based on her 2015 income until the 2016 income information is available at which time there will be an adjustment. She must therefore pay $615 per month commencing January 1, 2016.
[15] I will assume for now that the after tax daycare expense for Stephen will be the same in 2016 as it was in 2015, namely $558.99. Ms. Jamieson is to pay 45% of that cost which is $21.00 per month. That amount will be added to the monthly support payments to be collected by the Family Responsibility Office.
[16] Other than daycare expenses, Mr. Jamieson is in a financial position to pay for Stephen’s extracurricular activities for the time being.
[17] I remain troubled by Ms. Jamieson’s failure to provide financial information in a timely basis. This has been a theme throughout this litigation. Ms. Jamieson works in a law office and cannot argue that she does not understand the importance of timely disclosure particularly when ordered to so by me. For various reasons I have not ordered costs against Ms. Jamieson in the past, but I am going to do so now to recognize this problem of consistent late disclosure. She says that her failure to disclose is as a result of her being reassessed from time to time. I do not accept that as an excuse for her failure to comply with my Order of May 19, 2009 wherein I ordered that Income Tax information was to be exchanged by May 30 of each year. I therefore order costs in favour of Mr. Jamieson in the amount of $1000 to be paid within 45 days.
[18] My order of May 19, 2009 regarding the exchange of Income Tax information remains in effect.
[19] An order will issue:
- Ms. Jamieson is to pay Mr. Jamieson $4,089.26 for arrears of child support;
- Ms. Jamieson is to pay Mr. Jamieson monthly child support for Stephen in the amount of $615 per month commencing January 1, 2016;
- Ms. Jamieson to pay Mr. Jamieson $21.00 per month toward Stephen’s daycare expense commencing January 1, 2016;
- Ms. Jamieson to pay Mr. Jamieson costs in the amount of $1,000 payable within 45 days.