Stewart beneficiaries ordered to pay costs of failed joinder bid

Three applicants in the Gordon “Butch” Stewart estate litigation were ordered to pay the respondents’ costs after their unsuccessful joinder application. The costs ruling was delivered on 22 January; joinder itself had been refused in December 2025.

The applicants argued that intervention had assisted the estate’s administration and that the estate should bear the expense. The court found that they had pursued broader concerns outside the narrow release proceedings and overlapped with separate litigation.

The judge distinguished proceedings genuinely seeking guidance on an estate’s administration from adversarial litigation. On these facts, there was no proper reason to depart from the ordinary costs rule or make the estate pay.

The respondents received costs for immediate taxation if not agreed, together with a special certificate allowing two counsel. Leave to appeal was refused. The ruling did not decide the wider disputes over the estate.

A costs decision following an earlier joinder refusal; it does not determine the beneficiaries’ wider substantive claims. Complete official judgment reviewed; subsequent appeals or treatment have not been checked.