Penalty Clauses for Defaulting on Support Orders:   If it’s in a Court Order, it’s Court-Ordered 

Penalty clauses are found in various legal contracts and agreements. They set out a stated consequence in the event a contract is breached. Penalty clauses that are unconscionably punitive and have no connection to the loss that will result to the “innocent” party have largely been held by Ontario courts to be unenforceable. 
However, in Assayag-Shneer v Shneer, 2023 ONCA 14, the Ontario Court of Appeal made an important distinction in the family law context in situations where an agreement containing a penalty clause is incorporated into a court order.