‘Stunningly Enormous’ Divorce Bill is Upheld By Canadian Court

Family Law

‘Stunningly Enormous’ Divorce Bill is Upheld By Canadian Court

Posted Aug 26, 2008, 03:10 pm CST
By Martha Neil

A legal bill for a divorce described as "quite stunningly enormous" by an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association has been upheld by the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

The bill, which exceed $1 million in Canadian dollars (that's about $950,000 in U.S. dollars, at the current exchange rate) was for a Vancouver businessman's divorce from his wife of 42 years, reports the Globe and Mail. The couple had about $12 million in assets to divide.

The wife was awarded about $5.7 million, because of her claim to an inheritance from her parents, and each side was to pay its own attorney fees. Unhappy with this result, however, she appealed, and costs mounted, according to the article.

Represented by a top lawyer who doesn't ordinarily handle matrimonial cases, she did not have a written retainer agreement, only an agreement that he would charge a fair fee, the newspaper reports.

Given the lawyer's high qualifications, the complexity of the case, some difficulties created by the client and the open-ended fee agreement, the bill was reasonable, the court found.

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