CITATION: Khan v. Aziz, 2017 ONSC 7498

COURT FILE NO.: FS-17-89176

DATE: 2017 12 14

ONTARIO

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

B E T W E E N:

SADIA KHAN

Applicant

• and -

SARIM ALI AZIZ

Respondent

Timothy A. Puztai, for the Applicant

Farrah Hudani, for the Respondent

HEARD: November 2, 2017

ENDORSEMENT: RULING ON MOTION

Wein J.

[1] This motion for relief on various family law issues raises jurisdictional issues as between the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, Canada and courts in the Republic of Singapore.

[2] Mrs. Khan brought an application under the Divorce Act to this court for divorce and corollary relief, including equalization of net family property, spousal support, custody and access, and child support. Her husband, Mr. Aziz, brought a divorce application in the Syariah Court of the Republic of Singapore. He also applied for divorce and corollary relief and has in fact been granted a divorce and corollary relief, including division of assets, a payment of maintenance and consolation money, (which is said to be the counterpart in that jurisdiction of spousal support), and an order with respect to custody and access.

[3] Mr. Aziz has voluntarily been paying child support in accordance with the Child Support Guideline amounts applicable in Ontario based on his admitted income of the equivalent of $207,000 Canadian per year. He has undertaken through his counsel to continue to do so at least until a decision is released on this motion.

[4] The husband seeks an order that the Syariah Court of the Republic of Singapore has jurisdiction over all issues arising from the breakdown of the parties’ relationship, while the wife seeks an order that Ontario is the proper venue for determination of the issues.

[5] On agreement, because the parties say that the issues are urgent, the matter was heard on a short motion, as long motion dates are not available in this court until eight months hence. The parties agreed that I determine the issues on the basis of the material filed. I have been assisted by the succinct but helpful arguments and the thorough factums filed.

The Facts

[6] The parties were married on July 25, 2004, in Canada. It is agreed that the date of separation was July 8, 2016. They have two children, who were both born in Canada: E. born in 2007 and Y. born in 2011. The parties were married in Ontario in a Muslim ceremony but moved to Singapore after the birth of Y. and lived there from June 2011. Since then, the mother travelled to Ontario with the children at least annually in the summer months, but the children attended school in Singapore and the family resided in a rental home in Singapore. Both parties worked in Singapore and they and the children became permanent residents of Singapore, although all have retained their Canadian citizenship.

[7] The parties separated a number of times after the move to Singapore, during which time the wife would return to her parents’ home in Brampton. They separated from December 2011 to January 2012. The mother and the children returned to Brampton for the summer of 2014 but reluctantly returned to Singapore in the fall of 2014. In November 2014, after the mother discovered that the Respondent was having a marital relationship with another woman, she and the children returned to Brampton. In March 2015, she and the children went back to Singapore to try to repair the marriage.

[8] However, in April 2016, the Applicant again discovered that the Respondent had resumed the relationship with the other women, and she came back to Canada in May 2016 for 10 days for a wedding. She then returned to Singapore by June 2016. After her husband refused to let her accept a job in Dubai, she became depressed. She and the children returned to Canada in June of 2016. The mother advised that she was considering remaining in Canada for a year. The father came to Canada that summer for a time but returned to Singapore. Although the mother and children had booked return flights to Singapore for August 2016, and the children were due to return to school in Singapore, the mother was hospitalized due to a nervous breakdown. She remained in Canada with the children, residing with her parents in Brampton, Ontario. The children have been going to school in Brampton, Ontario for the 2016-17 school year. The Respondent did visit the children for five days over Christmas.

[9] In summary, after the move the Singapore in June 2011, the mother and children returned to live in Brampton with her parents during periods of separation, for two months from December 2011 to January 2012, for most of the summer of 2014, from November 2014 to March 2015, and from the summer of 2016 until the present.