Beattie v. Beattie, CITATION: 2017 ONSC 6978

COURT FILE NO.: D19924/05

DATE: 2017-11-22

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE – ONTARIO

RE: David Alexander Beattie, Applicant

AND: Anne Jane Mills Gould Beattie, Respondent

BEFORE: Mr Justice Ramsay

COUNSEL: both parties self-represented

HEARD: November 22, 2017 at Welland

ENDORSEMENT

[1] The parties married in 1974 and separated in 2002. The Applicant has been paying spousal support at rates that have changed over time with his income. In 2008 Walters J. ordered him to pay $1,500 a month based on an imputed income of $55,000. In 2014 the Applicant sought to reduce that on the basis that he could not work because of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. His motion was dismissed by Maddalena J. The Applicant now seeks to reduce his obligation to nil ongoing, with adjustments for income since 2014.

[2] The Applicant testified that he cannot work because his lung capacity is such that he cannot walk more than a few steps without being out of breath. He has provided a letter from a doctor that says that he has asthma, but this is hearsay and not admissible.

[3] It is agreed that the Applicant has had asthma all his life. He had an asthma attack on the honeymoon. While his work record is not immaculate, asthma did not stop him from working. I see no basis for reducing spousal support from 2014, especially in view of Maddalena J.’s disposition of the 2014 motion.

[4] I do accept, however, from the Applicant’s evidence that things have got worse as he has aged. He will be 65 years old next June. At that point he might well have been expected to retire. He will have government pensions and RRSP’s to live on. In the last few years he has been earning a little over $30,000 a year, which is about the same as the Respondent. The Respondent will be 65 soon as well, and will have CPP available in addition to her current sources of income.

[5] I see no reason to reduce spousal support retroactively or to give the Applicant relief from paying arrears, but I think that once he reaches retirement age he will no longer be able to support the Respondent, and she will be able to support herself. Accordingly I vary the order of Walters J. by terminating spousal support effective June 30, 2018.

[6] There will be no order as to costs.

J.A. Ramsay J.

Date: November 22, 2017