Costs In Family Law Proceedings Family law litigation can be incredibly stressful, time-consuming and expensive where there is a lack of communication or trust between the parties. The usual procedure involves each party bearing their own legal costs. In some circumstances, the Court can make an Order that one party pay another party’s legal costs, but this is not standard and is never guaranteed. Costs Orders are usually made in limited circumstances where a party has deliberately breached Court Orders,...
What's the Solicitor's role in Family law proceedings? The role of solicitors in Family Law proceedings may not be known to the parties before commencing the legal representation. In the case of Simic& Norton [2017] FamCA 1007, Justice Benjamin was critical of both parties’ solicitors, describing their actions as fuelling a negative culture of “bitter adversarial and highly aggressive litigation”. His Honour referenced correspondence that had been sent between the solicitors which did not reflect the appropriate professionalism expected of...
