This Week in Family Law Newsletter

Michel v. Graydon, 2020 CarswellBC 2302 (S.C.C.)

Philip Epstein used to say that, every decade or so, the Supreme Court of Canada would release a decision to keep family lawyers busy for the next 10 years. In 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada released D.B.S. v. S.R.G. (2006), 31 R.F.L. (6th) 1 (S.C.C.) ("D.B.S."), its seminal decision on retroactive child support. In his reasons for the majority, Justice Bastarache established a framework for analyzing retroactive child support claims. However, the majority decision has also led to confusion about whether and when a court can award "historical child support", which is the term the Supreme Court used in Michel v. Graydon to describe a claim for "retroactive child support for a person who was no longer entitled to child support when the claim for support was started."

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