Canada Case Law

Ferguson v. MacDougall

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Material change found: JNM's expressed wishes and increased time with father justified changing primary care to Respondent; approximately 34% of Applicant's 60% share of Arbour Dental Inc.'s pre‑tax net income (additional $30,435) was properly attributed to Applicant because business growth lacked convincing evidence that funds were required for legitimate retained business needs; retroactive support limited to effective notice date April 1, 2024 through December 1, 2024 (9 months) at set‑off table amount $705/month (total $6,345) payable by Respondent within 90 days; no variation of special…

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• Variation of parenting order
• Best interests of the child
• Attribution of corporate income
• Retroactive child support
• Extraordinary/special expenses
• Voice of the child

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S.F.L. v. H.S.J.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

No material change in circumstances was proven to justify varying the Parenting Order; the Parenting Order remains in force and the claimant must comply; after MCFD closed its investigation on November 13, 2025 and no objective basis for ongoing safety concerns remained, the claimant's refusal to comply was wrongful under ss.61-62 FLA; remedy of 38 days compensatory parenting time awarded to the respondent; a full s.211 report by Dr. Korpach is ordered with costs shared equally; police enforcement and appointment of a children's lawyer are denied.

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• Parenting time
• Variation of parenting order
• Wrongful denial of parenting time
• S.211 child welfare reports
• Appointment of children's lawyer
• Compensatory parenting time

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F.K.L. v. D.M.A.T.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed a mother's relocation application to move the child from Gold River to Comox, finding no material change in circumstances and leaving the parenting order unchanged.

• Relocation
• Variation of parenting order
• Views of the child
• Best interests of the child
• Material change in circumstances
• Parenting coordinator

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E.S v. M.S.

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The mother proved a material change: (1) a sustained escalation in conflict and abusive, misogynistic communications by the father, including conduct exposing the children and (2) repeated non-compliance with the CRO (withholding children, removing them from school, administering unprescribed medications). These facts established family violence in the form of coercive and controlling behaviour and direct/indirect exposure of the children. Given the best interests factors, joint decision-making and shared parenting were no longer appropriate; primary care and sole decision-making to the mothe…

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• Variation of parenting order
• Decision-making (custody)
• Family violence (coercive and controlling behaviour)
• Child support calculation and enforcement
• School/curriculum disputes
• Administrative recalculation of support

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Toxqui v Hofmann

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Applied Rule 77 and relevant case law. Allocated preparation/hearing effort across the contested issues (60% parenting — mother successful; 20% retroactive child-care support — father successful; 20% travel — mixed result). Tariff C applied. Rejected solicitor-and-client costs because conduct was not sufficiently reprehensible. Reduced respondent's claimed lump sum proportionally and awarded party-and-party costs under Tariff C: $2,000 plus $860 expert fees (total $2,860) payable by father with staggered monthly payments of $100 from May 1, 2025; respondent must file expert fee invoice within…

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• Variation of parenting order
• Travel with children
• Maintenance enforcement
• Costs assessment
• Self-represented litigant costs
• Tariff c application

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R.H. v L.N

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court found on the balance of probabilities that the mother wrongfully denied the father's parenting time beginning January 11, 2025; the mother failed to establish a reasonable belief in family violence or other lawful defence under s.40(3); the child's estrangement was primarily caused by the mother's manipulation (with contribution from chronic high conflict, the father's presentation when upset, and the child's developmental stage); interim variation to grant primary care to the mother was denied because it is contrary to the child's best interests; tailored enforcement and therapeuti…

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• Parenting time enforcement
• Variation of parenting order
• Parental alienation/manipulation
• Parental capacity assessment
• Reunification counselling
• Supervised parenting time

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XD v. SZ

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Applicant proved a material change in circumstances (contempt and disruption of mother–child relationship) and, after weighing PSA s.18(6) factors and s.18H relocation factors, the court found the factors overwhelmingly favoured the Applicant; therefore the Final order was varied to grant primary care and decision-making to the Applicant and to authorize relocation to Ontario with a specified parenting time regime for the Respondent and travel and enforcement safeguards.

Source excerpt

• Variation of parenting order
• Best interests of the child
• Relocation/mobility
• Parenting time and schedule
• Contempt and enforcement
• Preservation order

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Harper v. Harper

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Application to vary a parenting order was partly granted: the Court found some material change, but rejected a move to primary residence and 50/50 time.

• Variation of parenting order
• Material change in circumstances
• Mediation clause
• Misuse of court process (s.221)
• Holiday parenting time
• Best interests of the child

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White v. Schultz

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal upheld the existing regular parenting schedule but set aside the Thanksgiving holiday term, finding the appellant had not consented to it.

• Parenting time
• Variation of parenting order
• Best interests of the child
• Consent orders
• Divorce act interpretation
• Parenting-time

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Murphy v. Ibrahim

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

The trial judge’s decision to impose supervised parenting time and require a psychological assessment was a lawful exercise of discretion grounded in findings about the mother’s conduct and the child’s best interests under s.18(6) of the Parenting and Support Act; the judge provided adequate reasons and credibility findings permitting appellate review; there was no reasonable apprehension of bias; ineffective assistance of counsel is not available in this civil family case absent the rare compelling public interest; and the trial judge did not err in awarding costs. Accordingly the appeal is…

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• Parenting time - supervised access
• Parental capacity assessment
• Variation of parenting order
• Best interests of the child (s.18(6))
• Apprehension of judicial bias
• Costs awards

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