Davila & Huffman

The case before the court involved the parents of two children, X and Y, who were born in 2012 and 2014, respectively. The father sought to increase the time the children spent with him, while the mother sought to maintain the current arrangement and obtain sole parental responsibility. The court was required to decide whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility applied and if it was in the best interests of the children to change their surname.

The court found that the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility did not apply due to reasonable grounds to believe that a parent had engaged in family violence. The court also found that the father had not adequately addressed his personality vulnerabilities and that it would not be in the best interests of the children to increase the time spent with the father. The court placed significant weight on the wishes expressed by the children and found that it would not be in their best interests to change their surname. The court ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility, that the children live with the mother and spend time with the father each alternate Thursday and each alternate weekend.

The father also sought to amend his initiating application to set aside a financial agreement. However, the court found that the father had failed to file Points of Claim as ordered and had a history of filing applications that were discontinued or dismissed only after the mother incurred significant legal costs. The court found that granting the application to amend and to rely upon Points of Claim would inevitably involve adjournment and would not be in the public interest. Therefore, the father's application was dismissed.

The court ordered that the children live with the mother and spend time with the father each alternate Thursday and each alternate weekend. The mother was granted sole parental responsibility, but was required to inform the father before making any decisions and consider any input from him. The court also ordered that the mother be at liberty to travel to Country B with the children for up to four weeks on one occasion each calendar year, and that the children's passports be held and kept safe by the mother. The father was restrained from communicating any parenting arrangements through the children and discussing the proceedings with or in the presence of the children.