Lutley v. McNish

Lutley v. McNish

The court refused to impute income to Ms. McNish because credible evidence established incapacity to work in her prior pressured environments; the court used Ms. McNish's pension and part-time earnings as her income and applied the Child Maintenance Guidelines (s.3 for table amounts and s.7 for special/post-secondary expenses) to calculate and apportion child support and education costs, disallowing claimed expenses that were not proven extraordinary; all payments are to be administered through the Maintenance Enforcement Program and offsets/credits applied to reconcile overpayments and arrears.

Citation
2017 NSSC 362
Parties
Applicant: Stephen Lutley; Respondent / Self Represented Applicant: Jennifer McNish; Child: Julia Faith Lutley
Court
Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
12 January 2017
Procedural Posture
Family Custody, Access and Child Maintenance / Endorsement (decision)
Outcome
Partial relief: specified past-due and prospective child support and special expense allocations ordered; no costs awarded.
Legal Topics
Child Maintenance Guidelines, Imputation of Income, Special or Extraordinary Expenses, Post Secondary Education Contributions, Offsets and Repayment of Arrears, Costs
Source Language
English
Family Law Child Support Custody and Access Post Secondary Education Support Maintenance Enforcement Child Maintenance Guidelines Imputation of Income Special or Extraordinary Expenses +3 more

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Parties

Stephen Lutley

Applicant

Jennifer McNish

Respondent / Self Represented Applicant

Julia Faith Lutley

Child

Procedural Posture

Family Custody, Access and Child Maintenance / Endorsement (decision)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether to impute income to respondent
  2. 2 Calculation of child support for specific periods under s.3 of the Guidelines
  3. 3 Allocation and sharing of special/post-secondary expenses under s.7 of the Guidelines

Ratio Decidendi

The court refused to impute income to Ms. McNish because credible evidence established incapacity to work in her prior pressured environments; the court used Ms. McNish's pension and part-time earnings as her income and applied the Child Maintenance Guidelines (s.3 for table amounts and s.7 for special/post-secondary expenses) to calculate and apportion child support and education costs, disallowing claimed expenses that were not proven extraordinary; all payments are to be administered through the Maintenance Enforcement Program and offsets/credits applied to reconcile overpayments and arrears.

Court Disposition

Partial relief: specified past-due and prospective child support and special expense allocations ordered; no costs awarded.

Orders

  • Stephen Lutley is owed repayment of child support of 419.19 CAD.
  • Jennifer McNish shall pay Stephen Lutley child support of 604.00 CAD for November and December 2014 (302.00 CAD per month) pursuant to s.3 of the Child Maintenance Guidelines.