July 5, 2021 – Bad Faith

“The test with respect to when a party’s conduct amounts to “bad faith” is set out in several cases.  It may be summarized from Scalia v. Scalia, 2015 ONCA 492 (Ont. C.A.) (CanLII) as para 68:

[68]      The application judge was obliged to identify and apply the legal test governing bad faith in this context. This he did not do. The legal test for bad faith in the family law context, as set out in S. (C.) v. S. (M.) (2007), 2007 CanLII 20279 (ON SC), 38 R.F.L. (6th) 315 (S.C.J.), at para. 17, aff’d 2010 ONCA 196 (CanLII), 2 O.A.C. 225, is that the impugned behaviour must be shown to be carried out with “intent to inflict financial or emotional harm on the other party or persons affected by the behaviour, to conceal information relevant to the issues or to deceive the other party or the court.” In short, the essential components are intention to inflict harm or deceive.”

Fox v. Fox, 2018 ONSC 4156 (CanLII) at 21