Ex-fiance wanted her Kelowna home, but judge ruled he was mainly a tenant
A Kelowna man has failed to get his hands on half of his former fiancé's home after a BC judge ruled their relationship only lasted a summer.
Kory Damian Garwasiuk had argued he was in a marriage-like relationship with Tanya Janelle Loewen for more than two years, which under BC law would allow him a claim on her home.
However, for most of the time they lived together, Garwasiuk was a tenant living in the basement and the only reason Loewen didn't kick him out was because of COVID.
According to a June 3 BC Supreme Court decision, the couple met in late 2018, and six months later he put his home on the market and began moving his stuff into Loewen's house on Hidden Hills Drive.
His house sold in early 2020, and while on vacation in Mexico in March he proposed.
COVID then broke out and by the summer of 2020, Loewen, who also uses the surname Peters, had tired of the relationship.
"Ms. Loewen testified that after they returned from Mexico, Mr. Garwasiuk became increasingly agitated and verbally abusive towards her. She said that he suddenly could not tolerate her children. He started to push them around, and on one occasion he pushed her daughter to the ground. She discovered unexplained bruises on her son," Justice Richard Hewson said in the decision. "She confronted him about this behaviour, and demanded that he stop. They argued... she decided... that a commitment to him would not be possible for her."
Garwasiuk then moved into her basement suite.
"She said that if it were not for the COVID pandemic she would have required him to leave," the Justice said.
Sometime later, Garwasiuk took legal action arguing he was owed part of her home.
The decision didn't list a price for the property, but townhomes in the subdivision start at $770,000.
Garwasiuk argued he paid about $2,500 a month towards household expenses, put a large amount of money towards an RV, and they bought a pick-up truck together. He also did lots of maintenance around the household.
During the three-day trial, both fathers testified along with Loewen's brother and a longtime employee of hers, Kylie Carlson.
"All of the witnesses could be said to have had a personal interest in the outcome of the case. As such, I have to be alert to any indications in their evidence of intentional or unintentional bias towards one party or the other," Justice Hewson said.
Loewen's brother and her employee both said that by the fall of 2020, Loewen wasn't wearing her wedding ring.
Carlson said when she stayed at the home to look after the children, Garwasiuk was living in the basement. She said none of his stuff was in Loewen's bedroom or the en suite.
"Ms. Carlson did the laundry and the shopping for Ms. Loewen and her children. She said Mr. Garwasiuk did his own laundry," the decision read.
By the summer of 2020, Carlson knew Loewen was seeing other men, which didn't strike her as unusual as it didn't seem she was in a relationship with Garwasiuk anymore.
"Except for the fact that Mr. Garwasiuk was employed by Ms. Loewen’s business and that they purchased vehicles together, there was no evidence that Ms. Loewen and Mr. Garwasiuk had intermingled their financial or family affairs, or of any financial interdependence... Neither of them made the other the beneficiary of any will or insurance policy. Ms. Loewen appointed her brother Jayson as her power of attorney. He was also named as the guardian of her children in the event of her death," the Justice said. "Within the house they both occupied, it was clear that Mr. Garwasiuk’s place was in the basement and that he was only welcome in the main living area upon invitation."
While Garwasiuk argued they were in a marriage-like relationship for more than two years the Justice wasn't swayed.
"The evidence establishes, instead, that the marriage-like relationship between Mr. Garwasiuk and Ms. Loewen lasted from March 2020 to no longer than the summer of that year. They were not spouses," Justice Hewson said.
Justice Hewson's decision means Garwasiuk won't be able to get his hands on his former fiancé's home.
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