Court File and Parties

COURT FILE NO.: FC-17-361-4 DATE: 2019-01-08 SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO

RE: William Ndze Fuhgeh / Applicant AND Marie Marielle Edith Bernard / Respondent

BEFORE: Justice H.J. Williams

COUNSEL: Marie-Hélène Godbout and Marc Coderre, Counsel for the Applicant Respondent is self-represented

HEARD: January 4, 2019

Endorsement

[1] The mother wishes to change the name of the parties’ son from William Jr. Ndze Fuhgeh to William Benjamin Ndze Fuhgeh Bernard.

[2] In response, the father has brought an application for an order prohibiting the mother and the Registrar General from doing so and to prevent the mother from changing the son’s name in the future without the father’s written consent. (I will refer to this as “the father’s application.”)

[3] The father’s application was originally to be returnable February 25, 2019 but was adjourned by Shelston J. on December 18, 2018 and is among matters now being case managed by Shelston J.

[4] In the motion before me, the father seeks a temporary order staying the mother’s application to change the child’s name, pending the hearing of the father’s application.

[5] The mother asked me not to hear the father's motion and asked to bring a cross-motion under Rule 1(8) of the Family Law Rules. When I said that it appeared from Shelston J.'s endorsement of December 18, 2018 that only the father's motion could be heard on January 4, 2019, the mother's lawyer said that rather than argue the point, the mother would not ask me to hear the cross-motion.

[6] The father has raised an issue with respect to whether the mother, who is taking steps to change the child’s name without the assistance of her counsel, had followed the proper procedure. The father said that he had been served with a “Notice Form 6” under the Change of Name Act but that he had not been served with an application, as required by the Act.

[7] The father wrote to the Registrar General on December 8, 2018, to inform it of his objection to the change of name application and of his intention to bring his application to this court to prevent the change of name. The father informed the Registrar General that the change of name application was in the context of ongoing high conflict custody, access and child support proceedings in this court.

[8] I note that in November, 2017, the father had withdrawn his answer in Family Court file # FC-17-361, in which he had requested an order that the parties would not change the child’s name without the other’s consent. The father has not exercised his access rights to the child since November, 2017 and is not paying child support. A final order granting the mother sole custody of the child on a final basis was signed December 18, 2017.

[9] Although the proposed change of name may ultimately be found to be in the child’s best interests, I am not satisfied that it is in the child’s best interests that the change of name application proceed immediately. Dispositions in the father's application and/or the matters now being case managed by Shelston J. may clarify some issues relevant to the change of name application and inform the process.

[10] I make the following orders:

Pending the order of Shelston J. or his designate in the father’s application: (1) All applications to change the name of William Jr. Ndze Fuhgeh shall be stayed; (2) Neither the mother nor the Registrar General shall take any further steps to advance or process any applications to change the name of William Jr. Ndze Fuhgeh; and (3) The mother shall bring no further applications change the name of William Jr. Ndze Fuhgeh.

[11] The costs of today’s hearing, which began at 10 a.m. and ended at 12:15 p.m., shall be reserved to Shelston J. or his designate in the father’s application.

Justice H.J. Williams Date: January 8, 2019