Court rules on costs in BGC heirs’ dispute

A dispute over the estate of late BGC founder Len Buckeridge, believed to be worth more than $2.5 billion, has continued to play out in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Mr Buckeridge's widow Siok Puay Koh, also known as Tootsie, took the executors and beneficiaries of his estate to court in February, claiming her gift of $115 million was paid in a manner that left her with a big tax liability.

Ms Koh sought a court order for the executors and four out of the 16 defendants pay her legal costs from the February proceedings after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of parts of her application.

However, the defendants have instead asked the court to order Ms Koh to pay their legal costs from the February proceedings or, alternatively, give no order as to costs.

They claimed Ms Koh had minor success in the proceedings but failed to receive court declarations to relieve her tax liability.

In a judgment delivered yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Smith ruled that neither party will pay the other’s legal costs.

"This matter is unusual in that all of the parties were partly successful, and they were also all partly unsuccessful in the resolution of the issues in dispute," Justice Smith said.

"It is also one of those rare cases where the discrete issues on which the plaintiff won and lost, and the defendants won and lost, can be clearly delineated.

"In the result, each side had their successes and failures that occupied substantial court time. In these circumstances, it is clear that the court should in effect declare a draw on the issue of costs and require each party to bear their own costs."

Mr Buckeridge's sons, Sam Buckeridge and Andrew Buckeridge, were appointed executors of their father's estate after his death in March 2014.

Justice Smith said the heart of the dispute was finding out who was liable to pay income tax on the gift of $115 million, but Ms Koh did not seek a court declaration to identify the executors as the party responsible for tax payment.

"It is clear that the tax issues added significantly to the cost of the proceedings," she said in her judgment.

"The taxation issues and the associated issues concerning the alleged breach of duty by the executors was the subject of approximately 50 per cent of the parties' oral and written submissions and occupied approximately half of the reasons for decision."

BGC is ranked as WA's seventh largest construction company in Business News' Data & Insights, despite recording a $42 million loss in the year to June.