Law360 Canada ( September 9, 2026, 9:42 AM EDT) -- Appeal by Woodard from chambers orders arising from his petition concerning administration of deceased’s estate. The deceased’s will gifted his interest in a property located on Okanagan Lake equally to Woodard and Hewitt, the executor and the deceased’s common-law spouse, with the residue passing to Hewitt. Because Woodard was a non-resident of Canada, Hewitt obtained legal and accounting advice and withheld approximately $20,000 from his distribution pending resolution of potential tax issues. Woodard commenced both a petition and a separate action which alleged breach of fiduciary duty, sought payment of the holdback, a full estate accounting, removal of Hewitt as executor, and damages. The chambers judge declined to compel immediate payment of the holdback, refused to set aside an earlier order varying disclosure obligations, limited document production to matters relating to Woodard’s specific gift, and ordered that $15,000 of the holdback be retained as security for costs. On appeal, Woodard argued that the chambers judge erred by refusing to set aside the earlier order because it was obtained through material misrepresentation, by limiting the scope of document production, and by ordering security for costs. He also sought to adduce fresh evidence consisting of correspondence from the estate accountant concerning the alleged absence of tax risk. By the time of the appeal, the holdback, less the security for costs, was distributed....