Can a husband change his spousal support obligation under section 36 of the Family Law Act?

In Lachance v. Lachance,[6] an order made under provincial legislation required the husband to pay child and spousal support. Some years later, the husband brought a motion to vary that order to terminate the support obligation. Before the motion to change was adjudicated, the husband brought a separate application for divorce, which resulted in an order granting a divorce. The wife argued that the husband’s motion to change the previous support order had to be brought pursuant to the Divorce Act. The court held that the motion to change was properly brought pursuant to the Family Law Act. In particular, the court reasoned that the stay provision in section 36 of the Family Law Act was intended to address an unadjudicated support application under provincial legislation, and had no application to a motion to change under that statute.[7]