Berry v Nicholls

This matter concerned an application for leave to appeal from orders made by a primary judge concerning provision out of a deceased estate. The applicant sought leave to appeal against those orders.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the primary judge had erred in their decision regarding the provision to be made from the deceased's estate. This involved considering the merits of the proposed appeal in light of the amount in issue and the likely costs of an appeal.

The Court of Appeal determined that no error of principle had been demonstrated in the primary judge's decision. Given the relatively small amount in issue compared to the overall value of the estate and the anticipated costs of an appeal, the Court concluded that granting leave to appeal would not be in the interests of justice.

Consequently, the summons for leave to appeal was dismissed. The Court ordered that the applicant's costs on the summons be paid out of the estate on an indemnity basis, and the costs of each respondent be paid out of the estate on the ordinary basis.