Following a decision upholding the validity of the deceased's will and dismissing a resulting trust application regarding joint bank accounts, the court determined the issue of costs.
The court found that public policy considerations for estate litigation did not apply, as the will was clear and unambiguous.
Applying the regular civil costs regime, the court allocated 80% of the costs to the will challenge and 20% to the resulting trust application.
Costs were awarded on a partial indemnity basis against the unsuccessful challengers, apportioned individually based on their conduct, with the balance to be paid by the estate.
