Meddling grandparent ordered to pay costs

[logicalvelocity]

This is an interesting case.

Meddling Grandparent Ordered to Pay Costs:
Supreme Court of British Columbia issues important judgment

In this case, the wife had been supported financially and morally by her mother. Following trial, the husband sought costs against the wife and the wife's mother, on the basis that the mother had been responsible for a good deal of the wife's misconduct in the course of the litigation, including her breaches of court orders.

The court held that the wife's mother had "intermeddled" in the litigation, by encouraging the wife to breach court orders and finance repeated attempts to deny the husband's access to the parties' children. In finding the mother's conduct to be "reprehensible," the court ordered the mother to be jointly liable with the wife for the husband's special costs of the action. (Special costs are an award of costs that are roughly equivalent to the lawyer's bill, rather than a fraction of the lawyer's bill which is usual where ordinary costs are awarded.)


http://www.canlii.org/bc/cas/bcsc/2006/2006bcsc217.html

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Citation:
Steinebach v. Strobel,


2006 BCSC 217


Date: 20060208

Previous litigation between the parties

year 2001 http://www.canlii.org/bc/cas/bcsc/20...1bcsc1430.html
year 2002 http://www.canlii.org/bc/cas/bcsc/2002/2002bcsc440.html
year 2004 http://www.canlii.org/bc/cas/bcca/2004/2004bcca551.html