The Court appointed an independent solicitor as tutor for an incapacitated plaintiff in family provision proceedings and made a protective costs order relieving the tutor from personal liability for adverse costs. Applying Smith v NRMA Insurance Ltd, the Court held that the interests of justice favoured the order because: (1) refusing it would stifle the plaintiff's claim; (2) the claim was not hopeless; (3) the plaintiff's assets of approximately $22,000 rendered the tutor's indemnity substantially valueless; (4) the defendant would be no worse off than if the plaintiff were conducting proceedings in her own right; and (5) the proposed tutor's experience as a solicitor served the interests of justice. The Court also held that it is not an absolute requirement to approach every possible family member before seeking appointment of a non-family tutor, and that the defendant's costs of unsuccessfully opposing the application were properly indemnified from the estate.
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