Canada Case Law

Major v. Shupe

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Court may incorporate the Parenting and Support Act on its own motion in the interests of justice; Applicant failed to prove a 40% shared parenting regime so Contino s.9 adjustments are not warranted; CERB and the 2022 RRSP withdrawal are included in income for guideline calculations absent satisfactory justification to exclude; arrears recalculated on actual income and fixed at $108,961.76 to February 28, 2026 and are enforceable with limited repayment terms and mandatory disclosure going forward.

Source excerpt

• Shared parenting
• Retroactive child support
• Section 7 expenses
• Arrears calculation and enforcement
• Income inclusion (cerb, rrsp, wcb gross-up)
• Variation of support

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Brooks v. Griggs

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Applicant was entirely successful on all contested issues; Tariff A award of $14,250 is increased by $8,000 because of respondent's serious and repeated failure to disclose, the costs of securing disclosure, misuse of financial imbalance, and unnecessary litigation steps; disbursements and HST totaling $7,502.80 are recoverable; total costs awarded are $29,752.80 payable in 45 days. The court noted an alternative lump sum approach producing approximately 75% of fees would yield a similar result but the court affirmed the Tariff A-based calculation with uplift and disbursements.

Source excerpt

• Spousal support
• Variation of support
• Retroactive support
• Disclosure obligations
• Costs awards
• Tariff a

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Bee v. Key

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Aplicație de variație a pensiei alimentare admisă în parte: retroactivitatea a fost limitată la 1 septembrie 2022, iar plata curentă a fost fixată la 600 USD pe lună din cauza hardship-ului nejustificat.

• Retroactive child support
• Guidelines income disclosure
• Undue hardship
• Variation of support
• Arrears calculation
• Disclosure obligations

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Yee v. Yee

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court refused to impute $250,000 income to Mr. Yee, accepted his reduced earnings and new business efforts, and adjusted support under the parties’ agreement.

• Child support
• Spousal support
• Imputation of income
• Variation of support
• Separation agreement interpretation
• Spousal support advisory guidelines

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Yip v. Siller

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Cross applications under the Divorce Act led to partial variation of child and spousal support, with retroactive adjustments, imputed income findings, set-offs, and CRA tax-year allocation orders.

• Variation of support
• Imputation of income
• Retroactive support
• Support guideline calculation (ssag)
• Disclosure
• Tax treatment of retroactive support

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Janic v. Janic

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal: the motion judge did not err in attributing the respondent’s 2018 corporate withdrawals to her income, did not err in refusing to disturb imputed income for 2019–2021 because the appellant failed to participate and cannot rely on late disclosure, correctly found medical consultation notes insufficient to establish incapacity to work, properly included recurring family funds in income for 2022–2024, found no reasonable apprehension of bias from prior enforcement proceedings, and applied the Divorce Act and Federal Child Support Guidelines correctly.

Source excerpt

• Imputation of income
• Financial disclosure
• Variation of support
• Section 7 expenses
• Costs

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Kwantes v. Kwantes

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court varied child and spousal support under the Divorce Act, ordered retroactive child-support set-off, declined retroactive spousal reduction before notice, and set new prospective support amounts.

• Variation of support
• Retroactive variation
• Effective date of notice
• Set-off of support
• Bcfma enforcement
• Child-support

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Derkatch v. Derkatch

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court ordered broad financial disclosure, compelled tax filing and corporate statements, granted sale of Cranbrook properties to fund an interim distribution, and dismissed the respondent’s applications.

• Interim distribution (s.89 fla)
• Disclosure obligations
• Conduct orders (ss.222,227 fla)
• Order for sale
• Variation of support
• Expert appointment

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Mills v. Desroches

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court found three material changes since the separation agreement (significant income changes for both parties, respondent's serious deteriorating health leading to disability, and cessation of child support) but concluded respondent remains entitled to ongoing spousal support on compensatory and non-compensatory grounds; applicant can pay and respondent cannot meet basic needs without support, therefore termination is refused and spousal support continues at $617 per month until further agreement or court order.

Source excerpt

• Variation of support
• Material change in circumstances
• Entitlement and quantum
• Costs

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Somers-Dilny v. Dilny

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Child ceased to be a dependent on December 31, 2021; material changes (child's withdrawal from parental charge and respondent's increased income) justify variation; payor's reported business deductions were adjusted for CCA and personal vehicle/utilities; spousal support remains payable on compensatory and non-compensatory grounds and is set at $3,500/month effective January 1, 2022 with no set termination date; arrears scheduling ordered.

Source excerpt

• Variation of support
• Retroactive support
• Imputation of income
• Dependent child status
• Disability and support

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