What costs consequences follow if a beneficiary's application to remove an executor is unsuccessful?

An unsuccessful removal application doesn't automatically mean the beneficiary who brought it has to personally cover the executor's costs, but it's a real risk worth taking seriously before filing. Courts have discretion, and they generally look at whether the application was reasonably brought given the information available at the time, even if it ultimately didn't succeed, versus whether it was weak, speculative, or pursued for reasons unrelated to a genuine concern about the estate.

Where a court finds the application had a reasonable basis, even if the evidence didn't ultimately meet the bar for removal, costs may still be ordered to come from the estate itself, on the reasoning that raising a legitimate governance concern serves the estate's interests as a whole. Where the application was found to be unfounded or brought unreasonably, though, the beneficiary who filed it can be ordered to personally pay the executor's costs of defending it.

Because this distinction can matter a great deal financially, and because outcomes turn on the specific facts and how the court views the reasonableness of bringing the application, getting a realistic assessment of the strength of the evidence before filing is far better than finding out only after the fact.