The Importance of Making a Strong Case for Violence and Torts in Family Law

There is increasing acceptance by courts to award damages to spouses claiming violence against them in terms of actual dollars for the torts and trauma that they have suffered during their relationship.

However, a recent case in the superior court highlights the importance of quantifying and making a strong case by detailing the suffering and trauma caused rather than simply making a claim in a rhetorical manner. In other words, it is not enough to simply say that the applicant has suffered emotional damage or has been treated cruelly by one’s ex or by stating that their ex has financially or emotionally abused them.

It is important to break down the trauma and violence by specifying facts to support the allegations. If one doesn’t do that, then the result is going to be what was seen in this case.

Byrne v. Milner, 2025 ONSC 5272 (CanLII), <https://canlii.ca/t/kfk2s>

The judge refused the applicants request to be awarded damages for violence and emotional abuse that she says she suffered.

The Respondent’s tort claim was not clearly made out. The Respondent claims that she is entitled to damages for “the hardship, pain and suffering of long lasting and remaining intermittent anxiety and triggered PTSD and 9 months homelessness Applicant did cause by initiating assault of 4 April 2022. Her Amended Answer does not clearly specify what tort she is relying on to make this claim, nor does she quantify the damages claimed.  She referred to her tort claim in various ways, making some allusions to a history of family violence, as well as repeated references to “coercive control.”

Analysis:

The above is an unfortunate result for the applicant. At Shankar Law, we commit that we will be thorough in our analysis and ensuring that we provide great details in quantifying and in detailing the factual basis for making any claim. 

The devil is in the details as the saying goes! We will be sure to fulfil this. We invite you to contact us and seek our guidance and help. You will not be disappointed.

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