Costs endorsement following a will challenge and a dependant support claim.
The applicant was unsuccessful in challenging the 2018 Wills but partially successful in his dependency claim.
The court applied the McGrath framework to determine if public policy considerations warranted costs being paid from the estate.
The court found public policy applied to the dependency claim but not the will challenge.
Costs were awarded on a partial indemnity basis, with the successful respondent on the will challenge receiving $200,000 and the applicant receiving $125,000 for the dependency claim.
After a 40% estate contribution to the applicant's costs and a set-off, the applicant was ordered to pay a net amount of $125,000 to the respondent.
