Britton v. Leigh, 2025 ONSC 1926

Endorsement

Court File No.: FS-23-0092-00
Date: 2025-03-27
Superior Court of Justice – Ontario
Re: Katherine Britton, Applicant
v.
Nicholas Leigh, Respondent
Heard: March 26, 2025
Before: S.J. Wojciechowski
Counsel:
Tisha Hasan, for the Applicant
Timothy Matthews, for the Respondent

Introduction

1The applicant, Katherine Britton, and the respondent, Nicholas Leigh, requested that the outstanding issues arising from the breakdown of their relationship proceed to a Binding Judicial Dispute Resolution (“JDR”) hearing. This request was approved, and the JDR proceeded today.

2Appearing on behalf of the applicant was T. Hasan, and on behalf of the respondent, T. Matthews.

3At the outset of this JDR, I reviewed the procedure as set out in paragraph 14 of the Consent to JDR, and confirmed that the parties agreed. The parties were then sworn, and initial discussions occurred with respect to a number of issues to determine if any could be resolved on consent.

Background

4The applicant and the respondent were never married, but started living together in May 2019, and separated on October 9, 2023.

5Their relationship resulted in one child, namely Eleanor Britton Leigh, born April 8, 2020 (“Eleanor”), who is now almost five years old.

6The parties jointly owned a home which was sold in June 2024, and $25,000 of the net sale proceeds have not yet been disbursed. In addition, some of the contents of the house are still at issue with respect to who gets what and the values of each chattel.

JDR Issues

7The applicant and respondent have already agreed to a resolution of many issues arising from the breakdown of their relationship, and attend this JDR to address the following which remain outstanding:

1. With respect to Eleanor:

   • a) Final decision making for medical matters;
   • b) Final decision making for educational matters;
   • c) Parental communication;
   • d) Travel arrangements;
   • e) Right of first refusal for childcare;
   • f) Facetime communication;
   • g) Third party caregivers; and
   • h) Ongoing child support.

2. The other outstanding issue relates to division of property relating to the jointly owned home which was sold and some of its contents.

8After discussion of all of these issues together in open court, the parties were provided with time in order to assess whether or not it would be possible to resolve some of the outstanding issues themselves.

9The parties worked hard to come to an agreement on a significant number of outstanding issues, and will be filing Minutes of Settlement to reflect this agreement before this matter returns to court on Friday, April 4, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. EST via Zoom.

10With respect to the outstanding issues relating to property and assets of the parties, more discussion will occur in this regard and, to the extent that the parties require a further JDR decision, this will be discussed during the continuation of this JDR process on Friday, April 4, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EST via Zoom. This continuation hearing will only be scheduled for two hours in order to accommodate another matter on my docket.

11With respect to the remaining issues, the applicant and respondent asked for the court to decide on the following matters.

Travel Arrangements

12Domestic Travel: If either parent intends to travel outside the District of Thunder Bay but within Canada for a vacation exceeding 48 hours, they must provide the other parent with at least fourteen (14) days' notice. The traveling parent shall share all relevant travel details, similar to those included in a Consent Letter for Children Traveling Outside Canada, at least one week in advance.

13International Travel within Minnesota, USA: If either parent intends to travel outside of Canada to Minnesota, USA, they must provide the other parent with at least seven (7) days' notice. The traveling parent shall share all relevant travel details, similar to those included in a Consent Letter for Children Traveling Outside Canada, at the same time the “intention to travel” notice is provided. In this circumstance only, the traveling parent shall be provided with Eleanor’s passport no later than five days before the travel to Minnesota, USA.

14All Other International Travel: If either parent intends to travel outside of Canada with Eleanor, they must provide at least thirty (30) days' notice to the other parent. The traveling parent shall provide all necessary travel details, including flight itineraries and accommodation information at least two weeks before departure. Both parents shall cooperate in signing necessary travel consent documents within two weeks of the “intention to travel” notice is provided. Neither parent shall unreasonably withhold consent for international travel, provided that the proposed trip is reasonable, in Eleanor’s best interests, and does not interfere with the other parent’s scheduled time.

15Extended Travel: Each parent can have two opportunities in the year to travel for longer than a week up to a maximum of 12 days. Before booking, the traveling parent must obtain permission from the other parent as to the days that are on their parenting time which permission shall not be withheld unless specific plans have been made by the other parent during their parenting time. There is no need to make up parenting time lost for the first travel period which is longer than a week and up to a maximum of 12 days, but if a second travel period is booked, then that travel shall not happen until arrangements have been made to make up the lost parenting time.

16The passport is to be held by the Applicant who will continue to be responsible for renewal. The passport will be provided at least two weeks before international travel and on the condition that all necessary travel details have been provided.

Right of First Refusal for Childcare

17If either party is unable to provide direct care for Eleanor for 12 consecutive hours or overnight, the other parent shall be given the first opportunity to provide care before any third-party caregiver is utilized.

Facetime Communications with Eleanor

18The party exercising parenting time with Eleanor shall facilitate Facetime communications between Eleanor and the other parent when Eleanor requests such communication.

19During each week in which a party is exercising parenting time with Eleanor, if the mid-week visit with the opposite party does not occur for whatever reason, then the party exercising parenting time shall facilitate a Facetime call with the other party.

20If the party exercising parenting time is traveling with Eleanor for a period exceeding seven days, then the party exercising parenting time shall facilitate a second Facetime call with the other party.

Continuation of JDR

21As already noted, the parties are returning on April 4, 2025, in order to discuss and address any property issues which are outstanding. Between now and then it is expected that the parties will meet to go through the individual issues one by one and only submit those which cannot be agreed upon to the court.

22Once the outstanding issues have been addressed, the parties will be invited to provide written costs’ submissions, and the timing and length of submissions will be discussed at the end of the JDR scheduled for April 4, 2025.