Krushelinski v. Wehner, 2015 SKQB 195

• Judge: Wilkinson, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: June 30, 2015
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2015 SKQB 195;(2015), 478 Sask.R. 177 (FD)

Krushelinski v. Wehner (2015), 478 Sask.R. 177 (FD)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] Sask.R. TBEd. JL.062

Janelle Jasmine Krushelinski (petitioner) v. Jarrett Wehner (respondent)

(2015 FLD No. 104; 2015 SKQB 195)

Indexed As: Krushelinski v. Wehner

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Family Law Division

Judicial Centre of Saskatoon

Wilkinson, J.

June 30, 2015.

Summary:

The mother, a resident of Saskatchewan, applied for ongoing and retroactive child support under the Family Maintenance Act (FMA). The father, a resident of Alberta, argued that the mother was required to use the procedures established under the Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Act (ISOA) to pursue her claim.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Family Law Division, held that the ISOA did not constitute a complete code, and the court had territorial competence in the child support claim brought under the FMA.

Conflict of Laws - Topic 2222

Family law - Maintenance - Jurisdiction of court - [See Family Law - Topic 2248 ].

Conflict of Laws - Topic 2223

Family law - Maintenance - Forum conveniens - [See Family Law - Topic 2248 ].

Family Law - Topic 2248

Maintenance of spouses and children - Jurisdiction - Where respondent resident outside province - The parties cohabited in Saskatchewan and had two children - They separated in 2001 - The father moved to Alberta in 2002 - The mother applied for child support under the Family Maintenance Act (Sask.) (FMA) - The father argued that the mother was required to use the procedures established under the Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Act (Sask.) (ISOA) to pursue her claim - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Family Law Division, rejected this argument - The ISOA did not constitute a complete code for obtaining child support orders against non-residents - There was nothing in the ISOA that explicitly excluded the court's jurisdiction under the FMA - To the contrary, s. 43 of the ISOA expressly preserved other remedies - Further, in terms of commencing proceedings under the ISOA where there was no existing order and the claimant was habitually resident in Saskatchewan, s. 5(1) of the ISOA used the permissive "may" as opposed to "must" - Saskatchewan courts had territorial competence in child support matters under the FMA if the claim had a real and substantial connection to the province - In this case, a real and substantial connection existed given that Saskatchewan had been the habitual residence of the mother and children for their entire lives, and the parties cohabited in Saskatchewan throughout their relationship - The ISOA process would not constitute a more appropriate forum - The mother was allowed to pursue her claim in Saskatchewan under the FMA.

Family Law - Topic 2347

Maintenance of spouses and children - Maintenance of children - Jurisdiction - [See Family Law - Topic 2248 ].

Family Law - Topic 2408

Maintenance of spouses and children - Practice - Application against non-resident spouse - [See Family Law - Topic 2248 ].

Counsel:

Iffat B. Ritter, for the petitioner;

Peter M.K. Kazman, for the respondent.

This matter was heard before Wilkinson, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Family Law Division, Judicial Centre of Saskatoon, who delivered the following fiat on June 30, 2015.