Guhl v. Guhl, 2008 SKQB 520

• Judge: R.S. Smith, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: December 30, 2008
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2008 SKQB 520;(2008), 341 Sask.R. 41 (FD)

Guhl v. Guhl (2008), 341 Sask.R. 41 (FD)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2009] Sask.R. TBEd. JA.021

Larry August Guhl (petitioner) v. Catherine Louisa Guhl (now MacDonnell) (respondent)

(1990 Q.B. No. 002359; 2008 SKQB 520)

Indexed As: Guhl v. Guhl

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Family Law Division

Judicial Centre of Battleford

R.S. Smith, J.

December 30, 2008.

Summary:

The divorced father applied for an order that the two children for whom he was paying child maintenance, a son and a daughter, were no longer children of the marriage. The son was 20 and the daughter 23.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Family Law Division, allowed the application. As a result, the father's child maintenance obligation ceased.

Evidence - Topic 2274.1

Special modes of proof - Judicial notice - Particular matters - Factors affecting employment or career - [See Family Law - Topic 4014 ].

Family Law - Topic 4014

Divorce - Corollary relief - Maintenance awards - To children defined - The divorced parties' son was 20 years old - He was enrolled in a welder training program which included paid work experience - In 2007, the son earned $30,000 - The parties' daughter was 23 - She was enrolled in a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Business Administration program after having obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History - Both children lived with the custodial mother - The father was paying maintenance - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Family Law Division, ruled that both children were no longer children of the marriage - The father's obligation ceased - As for the son, it was "counter-intuitive" to characterize a student welder earning $30,000 as a child of the marriage - As for the daughter, while the court took judicial notice that a Bachelor of Arts in History was not "a magnet in the marketplace for regular employment", her educational endeavours were reasonable and there was a rebuttable presumption that an adult child entering a Masters program should not be considered a child of the marriage - The court held that there was nothing singular in the daughter's situation to rebut the presumption - See paragraphs 1 to 36.

Cases Noticed:

Chyz v. Prystupa (2008), 321 Sask.R. 34; 2008 SKQB 347 (Fam. Div.), consd. [para. 16].

Rebenchuk v. Rebenchuk (2007), 212 Man.R.(2d) 261; 389 W.A.C. 261; 35 R.F.L.(6th) 239; 2007 MBCA 22, consd. [para. 23].

Darlington v. Darlington (1997), 99 B.C.A.C. 134; 162 W.A.C. 134; 32 R.F.L.(4th) 406 (B.C.C.A.), consd. [para. 23].

Achkewich v. Achkewich (1998), 220 A.R. 385; 1998 ABQB 280, consd. [para. 26].

Beutler v. Maki (2005), 273 Sask.R. 198; 2005 SKQB 393 (Fam. Div.), consd. [para. 30].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Franks, Aaron, Post-Secondary Education and the "Twixters", 24 C.F.L.Q. 55, generally [para. 28].

Counsel:

P. Chetty, for the petitioner;

Catherine Louisa MacDonnell, respondent, appearing by affidavits.

This application was heard by R.S. Smith, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Family Law Division, Judicial Centre of Battleford, who delivered the following fiat on December 30, 2008.