Summary
37191
Merrill Kucher v. Kirk Brown
(British Columbia) (Civil) (By Leave)
Keywords
None.
Summary
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Family law – Support – Child support – Whether retroactive child support is payable and, if so, for what duration – Costs – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing the application for a stay of execution of costs awards – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding the abandonment of a child was insufficiently blameworthy to be assigned substantial weight by the trial judge in making a determination about retroactive child support – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in the standard of review by applying the correctness standard to a discretionary final support order, when considering the trial judge’s determination and assignation of weight to the various factors – Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR/97-175.
Ms. Kucher, the applicant, and Mr. Brown had a relationship for less than a year, which Mr. Brown terminated when Ms. Kutcher told him she was pregnant. His response was that he did not want the responsibility of a child at that time. He already had two daughters and Ms. Kucher had three sons. There was no further direct contact between the parties until the application for child support was made in 2013. The Provincial Court order awarded retroactive child support to Ms. Kucher in the amount of $70,320, being the sum of child support that the trial judge calculated would have been payable between 1995 and 2013 under the Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR/97-175 in respect of the parties’ child, “C.K.” C.K. was almost 19 years old at the time of trial. Fisher J. set aside the retroactive child support order and ordered retroactive child support to no more than three years prior to October 23, 2013 (the date of both formal and effective notice) in accordance with the Federal Child Support Guidelines; prospective support at $479 per month was ordered and the payment of education expenses. Costs were awarded to the respondent. The Court of Appeal dismissed the child support appeal from the decision of Fisher J. The Court of Appeal dismissed the application for a stay of the costs awards.
Lower Court Rulings
Provincial Court of British Columbia
19503
Supreme Court of British Columbia
15-1189, 2016 BCSC 1258
Supreme Court of British Columbia
2016 BCSC 194
Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Victoria)
CA43006, 2016 BCCA 267
Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Victoria)
CA43006, 2016 BCCA 354
Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Victoria)
CA043006, 2016 BCCA 456
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