Sean Johnson

The respondent was successful at a 14-day family law trial where the applicant's motion to change was almost entirely dismissed.

The respondent sought full indemnity costs of $138,950.31, relying on two offers to settle that met the requirements of Rule 18(14) of the Family Law Rules.

The court found the applicant should have accepted either offer and awarded full indemnity costs from the date of the first offer.

The court declined to find bad faith that would justify full indemnity costs for the entire proceeding, awarding partial indemnity costs for the period prior to the offer.

The applicant was ordered to pay total costs of $115,950.31.

The parties sought costs following a family law trial regarding parenting and child support issues.

The applicant sought full indemnity costs of nearly $170,000, while the respondent sought partial indemnity costs of approximately $2,500.

The court reviewed the parties' offers to settle and found that there was mixed success at trial.

The court also noted that both parties had conducted the litigation unreasonably, allowing personal conflict to dominate and incurring disproportionate legal expenses for relatively straightforward issues.

Consequently, the court declined to award costs to either party, ordering each to bear their own costs.

The applicant sought child and spousal support following a 22-month cohabitation and marriage.

The central issue was whether the respondent stood in the place of a parent to the applicant's two children from a previous relationship, one of whom has severe autism.

Applying the Chartier factors, the court found the respondent demonstrated a settled intention to treat the children as his own.

The court ordered the respondent to pay child and spousal support for a fixed three-year term, reflecting the short duration of the relationship and the parties' reasonable expectations.