In what circumstances will a court order solicitor/client costs against the unsuccessful party in a challenge to a will?

In other cases where the challenge is found to be completely unreasonable, an award of solicitor/client costs may be made against the unsuccessful party. In Popke v. Bolt, supra, the court found that the challenge was initially reasonable, but after a certain date upon further evidence, this was no longer the case. The court ordered the unsuccessful challenger to bear its own costs throughout, as well as paying the solicitor/client costs of the other party from the date on which the challenge became unreasonable onwards. In that case, the conduct of the challenger to the will was particularly reprehensible.

In somewhat similar circumstances, however, a more generous costs award was made to the challenger in Bahry v. Zytaruk, supra. Again, the court found that the challenge was reasonable up to a certain date, and no longer reasonable thereafter. The court awarded the challenger his solicitor/client costs out of the estate for the period prior to that date, and ordered him to pay party/party costs to the successful party after that date, with those costs being set off by the solicitor/client costs.