Law digests: 28 July 2023

Costs

Woodgate v Woodgate [2023] EWHC 1640 (Ch), [2023] All ER (D) 52 (Jul)

The Chancery Division dismissed the claimant’s application for additional relief under CPR Pt 36 if it was subsequently established that the defendant (R) had failed to beat the CPR Pt 36 offer. The claimant (P) and R were brothers. P was granted, as sought, R’s removal as representative of their mother’s estate, the appointment of an independent administrator, and an account by way of CPR Pt 8. R was also ordered to provide an inventory and account of his administration of both estates. P and R agreed to an order reflecting the ruling of the court where R would pay P’s costs, such costs being subject to detailed assessment on the standard basis if not agreed. P brought the present application for additional relief on the basis that a valid CPR Pt 36 offer did not have to reflect an available outcome of litigation. The court held that P’s offer was not properly a CPR Pt 36 offer;