Law360 Canada ( February 22, 2021, 9:22 AM EST) -- Application by the husband for leave to appeal an award of special costs. The parties married in 1978 and separated in 2010. Thereafter, the wife commenced a family law action. In 2015 the court ordered the sale of the parties’ residential property. The wife was granted sole conduct of the sale by consent. The wife accepted a purchase offer for $860,000 and agreed to a $10,000 holdback to pay for the removal of debris and chattels from the property. The sale completed without further incident. However, the husband took issue with the holdback and commenced litigation attempting to reverse the transaction. Ten separate judgments addressed the sale and the husband’s claims. In the most recent proceedings, the husband commenced an action seeking to set aside the sale based on fraud. Following a series of appeals and further interlocutory proceedings, the husband applied to have his own action dismissed. The wife consented to the dismissal and indicated she would seek special costs. The chambers judge confirmed the parties’ agreement to dismiss the fraud action and concluded that the husband’s unproven and baseless allegations of fraud justified special costs. The husband sought leave to appeal on the basis the chambers judge erred by conducting a shadow trial of the merits despite an insufficient evidentiary record and by ignoring relevant evidence that supported the plea of fraud....