AL v EL

JurisdictionBahamas
JudgeMadam Justice G. Diane Stewart
Judgment Date20 October 2022
CourtSupreme Court (Bahamas)
Docket Number2015/FAM/DIV/00526
Between
AL
Petitioner
and
EL
Respondent
Before:

The Hon. Madam Justice G. Diane Stewart

2015/FAM/DIV/00526

IN THE SUPREME COURT

Appearances:

Mrs. Yvette McCartney-Meredith for the Petitioner

Mr. Miles Parker for the Respondent

RULING ON ANCILLARY RELIEF
1

On the 8 th April 2016, a Decree Nisi was granted to the Respondent, dissolving her marriage to the Petitioner of eighteen years. Both parties filed Notices of Intention to Proceed with Ancillary Relief for orders relating to the care, custody, access and maintenance of the child of the marriage, maintenance of the Respondent and property adjustment.

2

The parties filed numerous affidavits in support of their respective positions. Both the Petitioner and the Respondent were cross examined. Written submissions were finally received by both parties in September and October of 2022.

RELEVANT FACTS
3

The Petitioner is the owner of a trucking company and the Respondent is a manager at Sandy's Department Store. They were married on the 11 th April 1998.

4

There is one child of the marriage, JL, born on 17 th April 2001, who is now sui juris (“J”). Prior to the marriage, the Respondent had a son CCW Jr. (“C”) who is also sui juris. No relief is being sought for C.

5

During the marriage, the parties, J and C all resided in a home situate on Lot 1401 Golden Gates Estates, Section Two which is not disputed as the matrimonial home (the “Matrimonial Home”). The Respondent alone obtained an initial Ioan to purchase the lot and to start construction and a subsequent mortgage was obtained by both parties to complete construction on the Matrimonial Home. The matrimonial home is held in the name of the Respondent.

6

The parties equally paid the mortgage on the Matrimonial Home until the Petitioner left the matrimonial home in December of 2015. The Petitioner paid the electricity bill and purchased groceries, while the Respondent paid the water, cable, telephone bill and educational supplies. They both contributed equally to the maintenance of the home. The Petitioner continued to pay his half of the mortgage payments from the time he left the home in December of 2015 to January 2017. Thereafter, the Respondent made the remainder of the payments. The Respondent continued to reside in and maintain the home thereafter.

7

The Petitioner purchased for the Respondent a 2012 Hyundai Tucson jeep (the “Tucson Jeep”) which she still owns to date but she had to complete the loan payments for the same. The Respondent purchased for the Petitioner a 2004 Ford F-150 truck (the “F-150 Truck”) which is used in the Petitioner's business.

8

The parties jointly own shares with the Arawak Port (the “Arawak Port Shares”). The Petitioner seeks full ownership of the Arawak Port Shares and in return he would pay the Respondent half of its value. The Respondent does not contest this.

9

During the course of the marriage, the Petitioner paid for J to attend private school from his primary to secondary education but there were periods where he did not pay toward the end of J's secondary education.

10

There has been a breakdown in the communication between the parties. The Petitioner failed to make any maintenance payments to the Respondent for J after he left the home. The Respondent has been paying for J to attend university.

11

The matrimonial assets which are not disputed are the Matrimonial Home, the Tucson Jeep, the F-150 Truck and the Arawak Port Shares. The trucking business is not admitted by the Petitioner as a matrimonial asset.

DISPUTED FACTS
12

The Petitioner claims that the Respondent purchased a lot in South Beach Estates (the “South Beach Property”) prior to the marriage but during the marriage, she had initially agreed to either use it in order to build the matrimonial home or that she would gift it to C.

13

The Respondent on the other hand alleges that she was simply a signatory on the mortgage to assist a friend with the purchase of the South Beach Property and that in any event it had been repossessed and sold to a third party and she did not benefit from the sale.

14

The Petitioner alleges that he deposited maintenance payments for J in a bank account which he had opened and had provided J with an ATM card to access the account. The Respondent alleges on the other hand that the Petitioner never provided any maintenance towards J after he left the Matrimonial Home. Any funds in a bank account that J had access to cannot be deemed maintenance as the Respondent was unaware of the same and such funds were not used for his daily needs.

15

The Respondent also claims that she and the Petitioner had always agreed that they would pay for J's tertiary education. The Petitioner refutes this claim and suggests that J should utilize the free tuition offered at the University of The Bahamas. The Petitioner maintained that they were unable to afford the cost of tertiary education abroad.

PETITIONER'S AFFIDAVIT EVIDENCE
16

The Petitioner is an independent trucking contractor. J lived with both himself and the Respondent after he left the home. The Respondent continued to reside in the Matrimonial Home along with J and C Jr. C. He earned six hundred dollars a week or twenty four hundred dollars a month. The Respondent was employed as a Manager at Sandy's Department Store (“Sandy's”) and he was uncertain of her earnings. He contributed two hundred dollars and later two hundred and fifty dollars per month towards the maintenance of J. He continued to maintain him until June 2019 when he became sui juris and had completed high school.

17

During the marriage, he contributed half of the mortgage payments for the Matrimonial Home in the sum of four hundred and thirty dollars per month up to January 2017, which was a year after he had ceased living there. He also contributed to the electricity bill, half of the maintenance of the Matrimonial Home, groceries, cooking gas and school lunch and school fees for J. He also purchased two brand new vehicles for the Respondent, the last being a 2012 Hyundai Tucson jeep (the “Tucson Jeep”) which she paid three hundred and fifty dollars per month towards the loan on the same.

18

The Respondent contributed half of the mortgage payments in the sum of four hundred and thirty dollars per month and the full mortgage payment for a year and a half from January 2017 to June 2018. She also contributed to the water, cable and telephone bills and half of the maintenance of the Matrimonial Home. The Respondent had a property in South Beach West (the “South Beach Property”) solely in her name which was completely paid for during the course of the marriage.

19

The Petitioner's monthly expenses were:-

a. Contribute to Accommodations

$ 450.00

b. Utilities (Light)

$ 200.00

c. Cell Phone (Personal)

$ 144.48

d. Groceries

$ 225.00

e. Insurance (Medical/Life)

$ 376.00

f. Vehicle Insurance (Personal)

$ 304.49

g. Fuel/Transportation

$ 400.00

h. Maintenance for J

$ 250.00

i. Maintenance for J

$ 225.00

j. School fee for J

$

Total Monthly Expense

$2,574.48”

20

He moved out of the Matrimonial Home in December of 2015 whilst J was still enrolled in Aquinas College. He stopped paying J's school fees in March 2016 and refused to make any contribution towards J's maintenance.

21

The Petitioner denied that he stopped paying school fees for J or that he did not make any contributions towards his maintenance. He maintained J throughout his minor life up to June 2019. After he discovered that J was enrolled in The Bahamas Global Academy for which he unknowingly paid for, he encouraged J to enroll in an established school because he felt as if that school had no structure.

22

Around that time, J alternated living with him for one week and with the Respondent for another week. J was subsequently enrolled into St. John's in August 2017 after being expelled from Aquinas College. He gave J three hundred dollars to purchase school uniforms and asked J to inquire into the school fees from the Respondent.

23

J returned to live with him sometime in June or July 2017 until September 2017 when he physically attacked and threatened to kill him. The Petitioner denied that the Respondent struggled on her own to maintain J and to keep him enrolled in school. Whenever the Respondent had custody of J, he assisted. They had always agreed that J would try to obtain an academic scholarship as they were both unable to financially support his college tuition.

24

J informed him that the Respondent wished to send him to New York and enroll him in a private school where the school fees were seven thousand dollars per year. He did not agree to it as he could not afford it.

25

The Petitioner also has a minor son, JA whom he supports financially. He denied agreeing to pay for J's tertiary expenses because he was unable to do so. He suggested that J take advantage of free tertiary education at the University of The Bahamas as neither parent were in a financial position to pay for J's tuition in Canada.

26

After leaving the Matrimonial Home, he stayed with his mother in Chippingham. He later moved into a rental accommodation. The Respondent benefitted solely from the Matrimonial Home which is the reason he ceased paying his half of the mortgage payments a year after he had moved out. The matrimonial home should have been placed in both of their names as they were dating at the time it was purchased and were married a year later.

27

The Petitioner would pay himself seven hundred dollars a week depending on which bills he had to pay. On numerous occasions he had to use his personal salary to repair and maintain his truck. He owned one truck and not three as alleged by the Petitioner. He denied that the Respondent played any role in his business, except for giving staff already made up payroll when he had to travel out of the jurisdiction.

28

He possessed two...

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