Following an application under the Partition Act for the sale of a jointly owned property, the parties resolved the substantive issues and sought a determination on costs.
The applicant sought costs from the date she first demanded a sale, arguing the respondent's initial failure to respond necessitated the litigation.
The court awarded the applicant $7,500 in costs for the period prior to the respondent retaining counsel, finding the respondent's intransigence caused unnecessary litigation.
For the period after the respondent retained counsel, the court ordered the parties to bear their own costs, save for $550 awarded to the respondent for reviewing real estate documents.