COSTS IN THE FAMILY COURT

In the Family Court (unlike most other Courts) both parties are expected to pay their own legal costs, that is, it is not like some other Courts where if you are successful in the action, you automatically have an Order that your legal costs be paid by the other party.

In certain circumstances, however, the Family Court does have the discretion to make an Order that your partner pay your legal costs.

However, the circumstances in which the Court makes such an Order are rare, and it is always best to be prepared for the fact that you will have to meet your own legal costs.

There are various steps that we can take to not only protect you in Court proceedings against the possibility of a Costs Order being made against you, but also to maximise the chances that you have of obtaining a Costs Order against your partner.

As your matter progresses through Court we will explain the various steps and procedures in more detail to you.

Even if you are successful in obtaining an Order for costs against your partner, the amount of costs that you will receive will not totally reimburse you for the costs that you have paid to us.

The reason for this is because the liability for costs between yourself and your partner is referred to as "party and party" costs. This means that if you obtain a Costs Order against your partner he/she only has to pay to you those costs that were necessary in having the matter dealt with in Court.

These "party and party" costs do not cover all of the costs that you would have incurred with us. For example, it will not cover such things as detailed telephone conferences that you may have had with us and correspondence between yourself and us.

One of the best methods of protecting yourself in relation to costs in the Family Court is to file a document called an "Offer of Settlement" in the Court:

	This is an Offer from you which outlines the basis upon which you are prepared to settle the dispute;
	The Offer remains sealed on the Family Court file and is only opened and read by the Judge if an Application for Costs is made at the conclusion of the Trial;
	If the Offer that you made was the same or more favourable to your partner than what the Judge has ordered, then there is a good prospect that you will obtain an Order for Costs from the date of filing of the Offer.

Back to Info Sheets

Top of Page

What our clients say about us:

Dear Brett & Jennifer,

Firstly, thankyou for your time this morning. It is so reassuring to know there's such a great team in place to support me. You have all contributed to helping me stay on track, more than you know.

Warmest regards,

Justine

More Client Testimonials...