In the Family Court system, the court expects both parties to pay their own legal costs. In civil courts, in general, if you make an application and you are successful, the court will make an Order that your legal costs, or part of those costs, are paid by the other party.

In some cases, the court has the discretion to make an Order as to the payment of your legal costs.

You should always proceed on the basis that you will always have to pay your own costs.

If you obtain a costs Order, then you have to have your costs assessed, deliver your bill of costs to the other party and go through a process where the costs are either assessed formally or the other party agrees.

You then have to take steps to recover the costs which may require further court action.

Even if you have been able to obtain a costs Order, the amount of costs that you receive under the costs Order will not reimburse you for the costs that you have paid us.

It is rare that costs are made on an indemnity basis, ie all the costs are covered. In general, costs are made on a party and party basis, ie if you obtain a costs Order, the other party only has to pay those costs which were strictly necessary. They do not cover, eg detailed telephone attendances we may have had with you and correspondence backwards and forwards between us.

You can protect yourself to some extent by making an offer of settlement which outlines the basis on which you are prepared to settle. An offer of settlement is not drawn to the court's attention unless an application for costs has been made.

In general, if you have made an offer which you "beat" at court, ie the offer was the same or more favourable than that which the Judge ordered, there is a good chance that you will obtain a costs Order.