5,310
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Changes
→Contempt applications and cost awards
"Costs awards" are orders that one party have their ''costs'' of an application or a court proceeding. "Costs" doesn't mean that one party has to pay the bill of the other party's lawyer, but they will have to pay for the lawyer's out-of-pocket expenses for things like filing fees and photocopying, plus an additional amount that usually works out to maybe 35 to 40 percent of the lawyer's bill. ("Special costs" require a much larger payment, and "solicitor-client" or "lawyer-client" costs require the payment of an amount equal to the lawyer's bill.) Costs awards aren't often made in family law cases because of their financial impact on the party who has to pay them.
Like contemptorders, an award of costs, special costs or lawyer-client costs may also wind up reinforcing the child's negative views of the rejected parent by making the favoured parent look like a victim. It can be tempting to ask for costs awards when the behaviour of a parent is particularly bad, but be careful about how the opportunity such an award may hand to might ultimately undermine the favoured rejected parent's chances of rebuilding their child's relationship with them.
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