Shokeen Singh

The respondent father brought a motion seeking three orders: (1) to set aside the default judgment and striking of his Motion to Change; (2) to set aside the order allowing the applicant mother's Response to proceed as an uncontested trial; and (3) to set aside ex parte temporary orders restricting his access to his son and imposing a restraining order.

The father had a history of missed court appearances and procedural non-compliance spanning several years.

The court set aside the default judgment and striking order, finding that the interests of justice favored allowing the father to be heard on the mother's newly sought relief in her trial materials, despite his poor procedural conduct.

The court restored the 50-50 residence arrangement but maintained the restraining order and imposed conditions on the father's conduct, including restrictions on alcohol and drug use during the child's residence with him and prohibition on personal use of the child's electronic devices.

The applicant mother sought temporary sole custody of two young children with the respondent father restricted to supervised access.

The respondent father sought temporary sole custody with the mother's access limited to daytime visits at the paternal grandfather's home.

The court found that the children had resided primarily with the mother since the parties' separation in April 2017 under an informal arrangement.

The father unilaterally retained the children on March 22, 2020, without the mother's consent.

The court held that this unilateral action did not constitute a valid status quo and that the evidence of neglect and safety concerns raised by the father was not sufficiently compelling to justify a drastic change to the established arrangement.

The court ordered that the children remain primarily resident with the mother with frequent and regular access to the father, including three weekends per month and weekly mid-week overnight visits.