Brother will get $10M, but wants bigger slice in Kelowna family’s real estate feud

A Kelowna businessman, who lost his decade-long legal fight to hang onto a $42-million piece of family-owned lakeside real estate, is now arguing he should get a bigger slice of the pie.

According to a June 18 BC Supreme Court decision, Edward James Callahan, who goes by Ted, argued that although the land was owned equally between the four brothers there was an agreement that granted him a larger profit share.

Brothers Robert, Bruce and Douglas Callahan disagreed and applied to the court to have the claim thrown out saying it was unnecessary, frivolous and vexatious.

However, BC Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo wasn’t swayed, allowing Ted’s claim to continue through the court system.

The Justice’s ruling means more time in court for the four brothers as the outlier Ted battles his three siblings in a costly legal battle once described by a judge as an “impossible dream” that they would ever cooperate.

Their father, Lloyd Callahan, started building a real estate and development empire in the early 1960s, and his sons have spent the last 20 years fighting over it. In that time, control of more than $300 million in property has been contested.

After a decade of opposing the sale of the “crown jewel” of the family’s real estate portfolio, in May, following a blind bid, a BC court ordered the Shasta Mobile Home Park should go to brothers Douglas, Bruce and Robert Callahan.

The brothers’ $42-million bid, beat Ted’s higher bid of $45-million which had several conditions.

Even before the Justice had decided who was going to get the land, Ted had filed in court saying he was owed a bigger share.

It’s described in the court document as the “Ted Differential.”

Ted argued there was an agreement between himself, his brothers and his late parents’ saying he would be compensated for growing the Callahan Family Companies, including the Shasta Mobile Home Park.

Brothers Doug, Bruce and Bob deny the existence of any agreement, calling the Ted Differential speculative.

Split four ways, Ted would make more than $10 million from the mobile home park’s sale, and there is no figure given in the court documents as to how much more he believes he should get.

Lawyers spent three days in court arguing over the matter, and more court time will follow as they argue over whether certain paragraphs in the claim should be dismissed.

The brothers accuse Ted of bringing the claim to “tactically” delay and obstruct the sale of the mobile home park.

However, Justice Loo said Ted has been awarded a larger share of other properties or companies than his brothers in previous litigation which shows there is some historical support for his argument.

The decision goes through the legalities of whether the case should continue.

The Justice did note that the paperwork filed in court by Ted’s lawyers is in part “prolix and repetitive.” It repeats arguments in slightly different ways and contains “unnecessary content,” the Justice said.

“These defects make the pleading more difficult to understand than it otherwise would be,” the Justice said.

Ultimately, the Justice allowed Ted’s claim to continue through the court system, but ordered both sides to pay their own costs.

“With regard to costs, it is my view that the parties on both sides of this dispute bear some fault,” the Justice said.