Mother permitted to proceed with undefended trial as father properly served

SERVICE EX JURIS

Mother permitted to proceed with undefended trial as father properly served

Parties were married on March 7, 1987, and separated on May 13, 1995. Parties had two children born on Jan. 15, 1990, and Feb. 16, 1993. Court issued final order on Dec. 18, 2008, which terminated child support for oldest child, adjusted child support payable for youngest child, and addressed outstanding arrears. Mother now brought motion to change final order. Father lived in state of Georgia. Motion to change was served on father in Georgia. Father failed to respond within 30 days required under Family Law Rules (Ont.). Motion proceeded on undefended basis. Motion granted. Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters applied to case. Convention must be complied with for service of family law proceedings within contracting states. Process server employed by mother was authorized, within State of Georgia, to serve court documents anywhere in Georgia. Father was served in manner that was authorized by Convention, and service in that way was permissible in Ontario. Service was acceptable. Since father was properly served with motion to change and appropriate documents, and had not responded, mother was permitted to proceed with undefended trial. Based on her affidavit material, court was persuaded mother was entitled to order sought.
Pitman v. Mol (Apr. 24, 2014, Ont. S.C.J., Gray J., File No. 4060/08) 240 A.C.W.S. (3d) 63.