Todd Slonim

The Applicant, Pierrette Donaghy, brought a motion seeking findings of breach and various enforcement and preservation remedies against the Respondent, Michael Donaghy, in a long-running family law proceeding.

The Court found the Respondent in breach of multiple court orders regarding disclosure and support, granted preservation orders over his assets, and set deadlines for compliance, including the production of business valuation and income determination reports.

The Court declined to increase the daily penalty for non-compliance but allowed the Applicant to seek to strike the Respondent’s pleadings if he failed to comply by the set date.

Costs were awarded to the Applicant.

This is a costs endorsement following motions regarding parenting time and decision-making for a child.

The applicant and respondent both sought costs.

The respondent sought substantial indemnity costs totaling over $83,000, while the applicant sought $7,500.

The court applied Rule 24(11) of the Family Law Rules, considering factors such as the importance and difficulty of issues, parties' behaviour, and proportionality.

While the respondent was largely successful on the main issue in the July 2020 motion, the court noted both parties contributed to the acrimony and excessive materials.

The court awarded the respondent $25,000 in all-inclusive costs, significantly less than sought, reflecting the applicant's partial success on an earlier motion and the principle of proportionality.

The Applicant and Respondent brought motions and cross-motions concerning interim parenting time and parental decision-making for their two-year-old son.

The Applicant sought sole custody and a restricted parenting schedule for the Respondent, while the Respondent sought equal shared parenting time and joint custody.

The court rejected the Applicant's argument for maintaining the status quo, emphasizing the child's right to maximum contact with both parents.

The court ordered a gradual expansion of the Respondent's parenting time, culminating in a 2-2-3 rotating weekly schedule, and declined to make an order regarding parental decision-making at that interim stage.