This paper, prepared for the Legal Education Society of Alberta, includes an overview of the current state of the law in Alberta as it pertains to costs in estate litigation. This overview is broken into the following sections: (i) costs in Alberta estate litigation, generally, (ii) when an estate is required to pay costs; (iii) when an unsuccessful litigant is required to pay costs; and (iv) when a personal representative is required to pay costs. The remainder of the paper will contain summaries of those cases which helped to outline the current state of the law, as well as examples of courts applying the law and how those applications might be applicable to a wills and estates litigation practice.
Bennett Jones