Facts
The substantive litigation between the parties concerned an
application for the removal of Mr Couper as trustee of a number of
family trusts. His removal was sought due to his decision to use
the trust property to arrive at equal outcomes between the
beneficiaries, some of whom had received more property than others
from other funds, rather than treatin g all beneficiaries equally.
The application was brought by both the beneficiaries and by some
of Mr Couper's co-trustees.
This hearing concerned who was to pay the costs of both the
trustees and the beneficiaries in relation to the substantive
litigation. Determining the issue of costs was complicated by the
fact that it was not clear who had been the most successful
parties. The judge found that the plaintiffs had been successful in
a number of important interlocutory matters, including forcing the
removal of Mr Couper, but that at trial the outcomes had been more
equivocal.
