In family court, there's no hiding the Ferrari — Laurie Pawlitza discusses family support obligations in her latest column in the National Post

“If you claim you’re so poor you can’t afford a penny of child support, best not to be driving a red Ferrari convertible. In addition to two Mercedes-Benzes….”

This opening salvo in Benzeroual v. Issa and Farag, a 2017 decision of Justice Pazaratz of the Ontario Superior Court may be unusual, but facts similar to Benzeroual find their way into Court more frequently than most people think.

In Benzeroual, the parties lived together, had a daughter and then married, and had a short, unhappy marriage. The husband was diagnosed with serious mental health issues prior to the relationship, and claimed his only income for the purposes of paying child and spousal support was from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) of about $10,000 annually. An income at that level does not create any obligation to pay child and spousal support under the Child Support Guidelines.

To read Laurie Pawlitza's latest column in the National Post, click here.