SMP Law – 2024 Year in Review
As is our annual tradition, SMP Law looks back at some of its significant cases in 2024:
First time event: in the 2024 Fall sittings, SMP Law was scheduled to commence 3 separate trials on the same day. 2.5 of those trials settled days before the trial, all in favour of the relief sought by SMP Law’s clients.
Appellant Level – Family, Parental Alienation – Cost Order
Cost award of $16,251.67 in favour of SMP Law’s client, for this half day court attendance. SMP law successfully defended an appeal of the order granting SMP Law’s client a reversal of parenting responsibility granting her primary care of a young child after our client had been alienated. This case was complicated by the last-minute claim by the opposing parent that SMP Law’s client sexual abused the child, a claim that was not made during the multiple day trial, and was only made moments before the court was granting SMP Law’s client the relief she had sought. After the subsequent criminal trial, SMP Law’s client was found innocent.
Superior Court Level – Family, Parental alienation
SMP Law was successful in having reintegration therapy ordered for the father. Mother had alienated the child from the father and the child is now 16 years old. Despite the child’s age, the motion judge ordered the mother to immediately participate in reintegration therapy, failing which, she could be subjected to sanctions. SMP Law’s client was also successful on the dismissal of the mother’s cross motion of wanting to delay the motion by seeking to examine the reintegration therapist and have the child represented by a lawyer, prior to the motion being heard. The motion judge found the spirit of the order had been thwarted, even though there was no technical breach of the order, and granted SMP Law’s client the relief he sought, and will make an order on cost in favour of SMP law’s client.
Superior Court Level – Family, selection of school, mobility, Costs Endorsement
Cost award of $7,500.00 in favour of SMP Law’s client for this one-hour court attendance. SMP Law represented the father who wanted the parties’ young child to remain in the school jurisdiction of the parties’ matrimonial home, rather than moving to a school in another city as suggested by the mother. This happened on an urgent motion basis as the child was commencing junior kindergarten within weeks. SMP Law was successful at preventing the relocation and the child is exercising her parenting time with our client in the matrimonial home.
Superior Court Level – Equalization, Support, Parenting, False charges
SMP Law’s client was removed from the home based on false criminal charges that were laid against her. These charges were later withdrawn. At the initial stages, our client was told by her estranged husband that she would not have parenting time with the children, that she would be paying him child support, and that she would not receive equity in the home. The estranged husband then engaged in conduct to interfere with our client’s parenting time access. Under 18 months from retaining SMP Law, our client received the majority of the share of the equity in the matrimonial home, retro and ongoing child support and spousal support, and enjoys equal parenting time and responsibility of their children.
Superior Court Level – Family, Child support, parenting time of a young child
This case addressed the issue of when a young child shall commence her first ever overnight parenting time with the father. The child was very close with our client which was the mother, and suffered from anxiety when away from her mother. Father was resistant to engaging in a transitioning parenting time which was to be phased in slowly. As a result, father had not had overnight parenting time during the two years of the litigation and leading up to the trial date. A few days before the scheduled trial, the father finally accepted the mother’s proposal, as he agreed to a phased in parenting schedule and was ordered to pay our client retro child support in the lump sum amount of $25,000. As a result, the scheduled trial that was to commence the following Monday was averted.
Superior Court Level – Family, Parental Alienation, parenting issues
SMP Law represented the alienated father, that was forced to bring a Motion to Change seeking to reverse the primary residence of the parties’ children to him. The OCL and a clinician were involved. On the eve of trial, the mother finally agreed to our client’s proposal regarding parenting time and parenting responsibility for the children. As a result, the scheduled trial that was to commence the following Monday was averted.
Superior Court Level – Civil, striking of pleadings, Cost award, Power of Attorney Dispute
SMP Law’s client had the defendant’s pleadings struck due to the defendant’s failure to pay the outstanding legal cost due to SMP Law successful prior motions. The cost owed by the defendant was more than $22,000.00.
Superior Court Level – Family, Self Help, Urgent pleadings, urgent case conference, urgent motion
SMP Law’s client filed urgent court material due to the estranged mother’s self-help removal of the parties’ 2-year-old child from the matrimonial home and her failure to provide her contact information for her new residence. The mother was unwarrantedly restricting our client’s parenting time and took the position that the father having the child overnight 2 out of 50 days, including days over the Christmas holidays was appropriate. At the urgent case conference attendance, SMP Law successfully obtained shared parenting time for the father within three weeks of the mother’s removal of the child from the matrimonial home. Costs are yet to be determined.
Superior Court Level – Family, 1 hour motion, sale of matrimonial rental property, selection of real estate agent
The higher income wife was dictating the terms of the sale of the matrimonial property to the detriment of SMP Law’s client, the husband. The wife then brought an urgent motion alleging our client was refusing to sell the matrimonial property. SMP Law successfully defended the motion and our client was granted a voice in how the property was to be sold as well as received cost of $5,000.00 which the wife has to pay in 60 days.
Superior Court Level – Family, 1 hour motion, breach of contract to purchase interest in matrimonial home.
After lengthy and detailed negotiations between SMP Law and the lawyer of the wife, the lawyer confirmed the terms of a domestic agreement in which the wife would purchase our client’s interest in the matrimonial home on a specific day. As a result of this agreement, our client entered into an agreement to purchase a property, however, the wife refused to complete the transaction alleging that there was no written agreement and as such, she had no obligation to purchase our client’s interest. The wife’s conduct required SMP Law to do an urgent motion to enforce the contract as well as to prevent our client from incurring further litigation for his inability to close on the property he purchased. The court ruled in our client’s favour confirming our communications with the opposing counsel created a binding contract and the court ordered the wife to pay our client $10,000 for his legal costs.
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Contact us anytime at SMP Law to help SiMPlify your legal matter at 905-565-9494 or email info@smplaw.ca if you have any questions or would like to book an appointment to meet and discuss your situation and how we can help.