The applicant and respondent, co-estate trustees, disputed the administration of an estate.
The applicant sought disclosure of the deceased's pre-death financial records and access to a condominium to inspect chattels.
The respondent argued these issues should be referred to an accountant pursuant to a mandatory referral clause in the will.
The court held that the condominium access issue was an administrative matter caught by the referral clause.
However, the disclosure issue related to the estate trustees' fiduciary duties to identify assets and was not subject to the referral clause.
The court ordered limited disclosure of pre-death financial records (six months for sole accounts, two years for joint accounts) to allow the applicant to investigate potential self-dealing by the respondent.
Each party was ordered to bear their own costs due to divided success and intransigent positions.
