Daughter’s bill to elderly parents rises with costs
The daughter who borrowed $367,000 from her parents, then didn’t pay the money back, has had another $14,000 for legal costs added to the bill.
Marian and Trevor Warin successfully sued their daughter, Colleen, for money that had been owing for years – and now a judge has decided their daughter also owes them costs.
The Warins had claimed more than $23,000 in legal costs but on Thursday Associate Judge Warwick Smith, in the High Court at Wellington, deducted some items.
In late April, the judge found Colleen Warin, an accountant, had no defence to her parents’ claim that she owed them $367,903.90. Colleen Warin accepted she owed the money but claimed it was to be repaid only as her circumstances allowed.
The judge rejected that defence and said Warin failed to repay her parents despite repeated requests.
Marian Warin responded to the judgment on Facebook.
‘‘You know who you are that have borrowed off us, and have all these excuses as to why you cant [sic] hold a job down and can’t pay your loans. You need to get jobs and borrow off the bank like normal people. ‘‘Trevor and I are not a bank.’’ The couple were originally from the Te Puke area. Trevor, 90, now has dementia. The money that went to their daughter came from their retirement savings, Marian Warin said.
After the first court judgment, Colleen Warin said, via her lawyer, that she was dismayed the family dispute was aired publicly and indicated an appeal was being considered. No appeal has been filed against the decision, a court spokesman confirmed.
In their costs application the Warin parents had wanted $23,192.
Colleen Warin’s lawyer said items in the costs application were challenged, including for having filed two amended statements of claim, and one item was billed twice.
One of the costs, more than $5000, was disallowed. It was for an application to appoint someone to represent Trevor Warin’s interests because of his dementia, but was unnecessary because it was eventually discovered that one of his sons held a power of attorney that covered his father’s property interests.
The judge said he had sympathy with the difficulties of elderly people conducting litigation, but Colleen Warin should not have to contribute to the costs of an application which was not necessary.
The disallowed and reduced items totalled $9254.50, leaving $13,937.50 costs for Colleen Warin to pay.