Category: Costs
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Punitive Special Costs in BC Committeeship Proceedings
It is common in committeeship disputes for families and loved ones to have diametrically opposed views of the best interests of the patient. Disagreements about the best interests of an incapable adult may need to be settled by litigation. Costs in BC committeeship proceedings serve the function of encouraging parties to behave reasonably in contentious family […]
Special Costs Granted from the Estate in Protracted BC Committeeship Proceedings
In BC, a committee can be appointed on application to the Supreme Court to make personal, legal, or financial decisions for an adult who is found to be mentally incapable. We recently discussed the issue of who pays the legal costs of a committeeship application. The general rule is that a successful applicant on a […]
| Costs, Estate Law
Special Costs of All Parties Ordered to be Paid Out of Estate Following BC Will Challenge
We have previously discussed the issue of who pays the costs of a BC will challenge. The general rule in estate litigation is that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s court costs. However, the courts may depart from the general rule and order that costs of all parties be paid out of the estate […]
Rectification of Wills in BC
The Wills, Estates and Succession Act has been in force since March 31, 2014, and since that time, there have been few reported decisions in which the court is called upon to rectify an alleged error in a will using the power in section 59. Recently, the BC court applied section 59 in Huber Estate […]
| Costs, Estate Law, WESA s.58
Who Pays the Costs of Vancouver Estate Litigation?
In BC estate litigation, costs generally follow the event, so the unsuccessful party is usually ordered to pay the winner’s costs. But the court has discretion to order costs paid from the estate, especially where the dispute was caused by the will-maker or was needed to resolve a genuine question about the will. At the […]
| Costs, Estate Law
Application for Security for Costs Denied in Vancouver Estate Litigation
In a recent Vancouver estate litigation matter, Nordgren v. Hjukstrom Estate, 2019 BCSC 1, one of Onyx Law Group’s team of estate lawyers successfully argued against an application for security for costs which was brought against her clients. Janis Ko represented the plaintiffs in this case, the siblings and nephews of Mr. Hjukstrӧm who died in […]