Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

court tomorrow for contempt

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • court tomorrow for contempt

    Hi again,

    I have to go to court tomorrow for the contempt of court motion brought against me for failure to give my spouse $20,000 towards her mortgage. The whole thing is based on my failure to sell the co-owned piece of property I owned with my dad to pay off the $20,000. I have since signed over my interest in the property to my Dad.

    The whole reason I took the property off the market to begin with, was because my spouse verbally told me to take it off the market that she didn't want it sold, I took it off, she withdrew the contempt, and then I was served again in Oct. for it again.

    I included in my answer affidavit an email that she has sent me since this latest filing, that states that she already told me that she didn't want the cottage sold and that she would forget about the $20,000. However her whole contempt thing is based on the fact that I didn't sell the cottage to get her this $20,000.00. There was also no time limit for the $20,000 to be paid, and I never agreed to sell the cottage in the agreement to get her the $20,000.00.

    I guess I'm wondering what are her chances of being successful with this contempt thing? I was pretty confident that the email, would clear it up and she would pull the whole thing, but since she's going through with it, I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing.

    Thanks

  • #2
    havebe,

    as you mentioned,

    I guess I'm wondering what are her chances of being successful with this contempt thing? I was pretty confident that the email, would clear it up and she would pull the whole thing, but since she's going through with it, I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing.
    As I mentioned previously to you; for the other side to be successful in their contempt motion, they are going to have to prove that you have willfully have yet to comply with your separation agreement or have no intentions to comply with same beyond a reasonable doubt rather than on the balance of probabilities.

    If the agreement is open ended with no time limit for certain steps to occur, then how can they prove that you have no intentions to comply with same in the future.

    I suspect one of the parties have attached a copy of the separation agreement for reference purposes into evidence. I suspect they won't be successful in their motion and as such, you should be seeking costs of same against them.

    For a successful contempt motion in civil proceedings

    read this paragraph from

    Anthes v. Wilson, 2005 CanLII 14567 (ON C.A.)

    http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onca/20...onca10339.html

    although an estate issue the principle of contempt of court for civil proceedings is defined

    Paragraph 4

    "[4] A contempt process – even a civil contempt process – is criminal in nature and requires proof of the contemptuous conduct beyond a reasonable doubt. The conduct must be willful, deliberate and of a contumacious and egregious nature."

    and this authority

    Lampron v. Lampron, 2006 CanLII 24336 (ON S.C.)

    http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onsc/20...onsc15748.html

    Paragraph 3 and 4

    Analysis

    Contempt of Court

    [3] In this case Mr. Lampron alleges civil contempt as a result of non-compliance with various orders, contrary to Rule 31 of the Family Law Rules. The moving party must prove contempt on the same standard as in a criminal proceeding, namely beyond a reasonable doubt. Bhatnager v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), 1990 CanLII 120 (S.C.C.), [1990] 2 S.C.R. 217; Ragacki v. Belz 2003 CanLII 12584 (ON C.A.), (2003), 67 O.R. (3d) 330 (C.A.)

    [4] A three-part test must be met in order to establish contempt of court:

    1. There must be a clear breach of the terms of the order;

    2. The person disobeying an order must do so deliberately and voluntarily; and

    3. The proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt and any doubt should be resolved in favour of the person alleged to have violated the order.

    (884772 Ontario Ltd. (c.o.b. Team Consultants) v. SHL Systemhouse Inc., [1993] O.J. No. 1488 (Gen.Div.)


    lv

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you again.

      I guess I'm just wondering if that's the case, why her lawyer is going ahead with the motion? I know she's very angry with me for asking the court to clarify my visitation (that's next week) and she more or less dangled it in front of me when I picked up my kids last week, that she was going to pull the contempt motion on the Mon. But then when I refused to drop the whole visitation thing she was yelling at me that we would be going to court then.

      Am I allowed to take extra proof in with me? I have emailed her an offer that if her spousal support is ordered to end in 2010, that I would pay her $500.00 a month after that, to pay the $20,000.00 off. She refused this offer, because she doesn't want her ss to end, but at least it shows that I made an offer and have every intention of paying when I can. I forgot to put this with my affidavit though.

      Anyway, thanks again for all the advice. I really appreciate it.

      Comment


      • #4
        havebe,

        I suspect they are going ahead with the contempt motion to get the attention of the court. I suspect they won't be successful in the contempt motion, as it is quasi criminal and the required proof is somewhat different. You should be seeking costs of this frivolous litigation.

        For the document that you forgot to add in your affidavit, put a feel out during the motion and if this offer was in writing, you could attempt to speak about the offer orally and attempt to present the evidence to the Judge. The Judge may or may not accept same.

        At the same time, you should have your children access specified and clarified.


        good luck today

        lv

        Comment


        • #5
          Thank you, I'll post when I get home and let you know how it went.

          Why would you want the attention of the court if there's a very good chance you'll lose?

          I did ask for costs for this motion as did she.

          Thanks again.

          Comment

          Our Divorce Forums
          Forums dedicated to helping people all across Canada get through the separation and divorce process, with discussions about legal issues, parenting issues, financial issues and more.
          Working...
          X