UPDATED MEDICAL EVIDENCE ALWAYS KEY

Assuming you have properly screened for intimate-partner violence and have established sufficient safeguards either to mediate or arbitrate, then Justice M. Linhares de Sousa’s decision in Moncrieff v. Floresco-Dakin 2019 ONSC 2740  (CANLII)  is instructive on the kind of information you might require when deciding to loosen restrictions on supervised access.

In this case, a father, who had committed domestic violence on his partner, wanted unsupervised access to his four-year-old son who was autistic. To support his position, he filed a somewhat dated letter from his former doctor indicating that his mental health prognosis was good, but he needed to take his medications. He had, however, failed to provide the Court with an update about his treatment. One would have thought that such evidence was basic. The judge thought so; the father’s request was denied. Supervised access was to continue until an update was provided.

The moral of the story is that, when dealing with domestic violence and mental health issues, updated information should be crucial to your decision-making.