- Parties: The claimant was Maria Jane Proust. The respondent was John Graham Proust. 

- Subject Matter: The parties married in 1993, had three children, separated in December 2021, and had a Dec. 14, 2023 separation agreement. On Aug. 7, 2024, the respondent filed an application for orders under s. 17 of the Divorce Act, 1985. The applicant sought to vary the separation agreement’s terms. The applicant wanted to reduce the monthly spousal support amount in the separation agreement, with spousal support payable from April 2024 onward, based on a guideline income for the respondent of $276,000 and for the claimant of $75,000. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the applicant’s favour and dismissed the respondent’s application. The court found it inappropriate to vary the requirement in the agreement that the respondent pay monthly spousal support of $18,500. The court saw no material change in either party’s financial circumstances that they did not reasonably anticipate. Thus, the court refused to give significant weight to the settlement agreement’s terms providing for an $18,500 open-ended spousal support payment to the claimant and generally dividing family property equally between the parties. The court stressed that the current financial circumstances did not significantly depart from the range of reasonable outcomes anticipated by the parties. 

- Date: The court released its decision on Feb. 11, 2025. 

- Venue: This was a case before the Supreme Court of British Columbia. 

- Amount: The court did not decide the issue of costs.