M. Non-disclosure of Income or Assets or of Material Change of Circumstances

• Author: Julien D. Payne - Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 232-233

Page 232

Courts must take appropriate steps to ensure that a parent does not benefit from failing to provide financial disclosure.⁷⁵⁷A strong message needs to be sent to those individuals who are non compliant with financial disclosure, and who, despite being given the opportunity to do so, simply disregard the court process.⁷⁵⁸An adverse inference may be drawn against a spouse or former spouse who fails to make full disclosure of his or her income and expenses and the resulting income or earning capacity attributed to such a spouse or former spouse may be in a higher amount than that acknowledged in the evidence.⁷⁵⁹A failure to produce accurate and complete financial information may entitle the court to draw an adverse inference that the non-disclosing party earns at least as much income as the other spouse or former spouse.⁷⁶⁰The obligor’s concealment of income may justify an order for retroactive lump sum child support that reflects the differential between the acknowledged and the true income of the obligor.⁷⁶¹An adverse inference does not exist in a vacuum.⁷⁶²If a custodial parent refuses to disclose business assets, a court may refuse to grant an order with respect to designated expenses under section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines on the ground that it is unable to apportion the expenses.⁷⁶³A parent, who is required to provide support for a child in attendance at a school, college or university, is entitled to proof of the child’s continued enrolment in the educational institution before the commencement of any new academic year. This does not automatically require the other parent to secure transcripts, certificates or receipts to prove that the child is still in attendance. It does signify, however, that such proof should be provided in a timely fashion when the production of such proof is sought. If proof is not forthcoming, the supporting parent would be justified in paying the money into court pending receipt of satisfactory proof, although this could present difficulty when the enforcement of support obligations is controlled by the provincial bureaucracy.⁷⁶⁴Where a parent has wilfully failed to disclose a change of circumstances that warrants the termination of child support, the court may order reimbursement of the overpayment and, if such payment is not made, may direct that future support payments for a second child be temporarily suspended until the overpayment has been recovered.⁷⁶⁵A court may decline to...