Tiffany Clarke

The moving party, the Estate Trustee Without a Will, brought a motion for leave to appeal the costs orders of the motion judge.

The Divisional Court held that the impugned order was solely in respect to costs, requiring leave to appeal under the Courts of Justice Act.

The court granted leave to appeal the denial of costs to the Estate Trustee During Litigation payable by any of the parties or from the Estate.

A case conference was held to determine the procedure for appealing a costs-only order made under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act.

The appellant argued that s. 76 of the Act provides an appeal as of right, while s. 133 of the Courts of Justice Act requires leave to appeal costs orders.

The case management judge directed that any party seeking to appeal the costs order must bring a motion for leave to appeal in writing under Rule 62.02, where they may make submissions on the apparent statutory conflict.