31 Aug 2023
JACK JOHN SMITH and HENRY SMITH v THE DESCENDANTS OF PAULINE MARSH (Deceased) [2023] NZHC 2423
- Citation
- [2023] NZHC 2423
- Court
- High Court
The plaintiffs failed to provide adequate time records and narrative to justify the claimed fees; accordingly the court could not approve the claimed amount and instead assessed costs on the 2B scale ($20,076) and uplifted that by 50% to approximate reasonable actual costs, resulting in an award of $30,114 plus disbursements of $738.73, payable out of the estate; the court also held it was inappropriate in the context of a whānau dispute to award costs against the respondents personally.