Hartnell Chanot: Divorce/Family Law Solicitors Exeter, Devon

Opponents costs

If both parties have behaved reasonably the Courts will take this into account.

In many "family" cases judges tend to be less severe about ordering one person to pay the other person's costs, as they recognize that in many situations neither person has acted unreasonably by taking or defending court proceedings, particularly those involving children.

However if it is felt that someone has behaved unreasonably in conducting the case, then an order to pay the other person's costs could be made. The fact that someone is receiving Public Funding will signal to the court that the person will have difficulty in meeting any order to pay costs. This may discourage the court from making any such order, but this is by no means guaranteed and will depend on the circumstances of each case.

If your opponent is ordered to pay all of your costs then any contributions you may have paid will be reimbursed once your opponent has actually paid what he or she owes. If he or she does not meet those obligations either at all in part the LSC may well seek to recover the difference from you. This may mean a charge will be registered against your home.

REMEMBER

1. If you do not succeed in your case you may be ordered to pay all or part of your opponent's costs even if your own costs are covered by Public Funding.
2. Even if you are successful in your case your opponent will usually not be ordered to pay the full amount, and may not be capable of paying what they have been ordered to pay. They maybe asked to make a small contribution or nothing at all.
3.  If your opponent is ordered to pay all or any of the costs and he or she does not do so then if the statutory charge applies the LSC will see all or part of those costs from you (if you receive Public Funding) and we would seek them from you if you were a privately paying client.