SUPREME
COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA (FAMILY DIVISION)
Citation: Newton v. Newton, 2017
NSSC 364
ENDORSEMENT
Geoffrey Newton v. Jocelyn Newton
2014; 1201-067728; SFH-D-090270
April 21, 2017
• Sarah Harris for Geoffrey Newton
• Jocelyn Newton
Request to determine child support for June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.
Decision: Ms. Newton shall pay monthly child support to Mr. Newton of $76.00 from June 1, 2015 to and including May 1, 2016. The resulting arrears owed by Ms. Newton to Mr. Newton are $912.00. By the parties’ agreement, this amount may be offset against current amounts of child support owed by Mr. Newton to Ms. Newton. Child support paid by Mr. Newton to Ms. Newton, other than for medical insurance premiums, during the period from June 1, 2015 to and including May 1, 2016 shall be repaid or, by the parties’ agreement, offset against current amounts of child support owed by Mr. Newton to Ms. Newton.
Reasons:
1.
At issue is Mr. Newton’s income for 2014.
The parties’ Corollary Relief Judgment requires that child support payments
from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016 be based on the set off amount, calculated
having regard to Ms. Newton’s income and Mr. Newton’s income.
2.
The parties agree that Ms. Newton’s 2014
income, for child support purposes, was $71,557.75.
3.
The parties agree that Mr. Newton earned
$32,391.77 during the last four months of 2014. This amount is documented on
his T4A from Newton & Associates.
4.
The parties agree that Mr. Newton had
income of $11,839.29 earned in June, July and August 2014.
5.
The parties agree that Mr. Newton had dividend
income of $22,866.56 in 2014. These dividends were paid to Mr. Newton in 2014
by G.C.N. Barristers and Solicitors Ltd.
6.
The Federal Child Support Guidelines
require, in section 15 of Schedule II, that I use the actual amount dividends
received, rather than the grossed up amount which is reported on the tax
return. So, I use $22,866.56 in my calculations and not the grossed up figure
of $28,582.20 which Ms. Newton has calculated, based on Mr. Newton’s earlier
tax returns and the grossed up dividends reported on them.
7.
The amounts agreed upon and the actual
dividends in 2014 total $67,097.62. This is the amount that Mr. Newton said
was his 2014 income for child support purposes.
8.
Ms. Newton said that Mr. Newton’s 2014
income was $106,327.62. A small amount of the difference between this and the
$67,097.62 I calculated in paragraph 7 arises because of her use of the incorrectly
grossed up dividend figure. The remainder of the difference arises because she
said Mr. Newton had additional net earnings from G.C.N. Barristers and Solicitors
Ltd of $104,030.00. Ms. Newton offset $41,933.44, representing dividends paid
out in 2013, against these earnings.
9.
It is correct that Mr. Newton received
dividends of $41,933.44 in 2013. According to Stephen Shupe, the accountant
who prepared Mr. Newton’s personal tax return, and – when they were filed – the
tax returns for G.C.N. Barristers and Solicitors Ltd and Newton Family Trust
(2011), these dividends were paid to Mr. Newton in 2013. Because these were
paid to Mr. Newton in 2013, they are not considered part of his 2014 income.
10.
The only dividends Mr. Newton received
in 2014 were the $22,866.56 in dividends for the period from January 1, 2014 to
May 31, 2014, from G.C.N. Barristers and Solicitors Ltd. I have considered
these.
11. I find that Mr. Newton’s 2014 income for child support purposes is $67,097.62.
12. On the set-off basis, Ms. Newton would pay monthly child support to Mr. Newton of $76.00 from June 1, 2015 to and including May 1, 2016. The resulting arrears owed by Ms. Newton to Mr. Newton are $912.00. By the parties’ agreement, this amount may be offset against current amounts of child support owed by Mr. Newton to Ms. Newton.
13.
Child support paid by Mr. Newton to Ms.
Newton during the period from June 1, 2015 to and including May 1, 2016, other
than that paid for medical insurance premiums, shall be repaid or, by the
parties’ agreement, offset against current amounts of child support owed by Mr.
Newton to Ms. Newton. _____________________________
Elizabeth
Jollimore, J.S.C.(F.D.)