Hi all
So, current position is, had the final hearing but awaiting judgement. - I haven't yet applied for costs but wondering if I still can. The information available online suggests that costs are rare in children cases but it's at judge's discretion and can be granted, normally depending on the behaviour of the parties. However it's unclear if I can apply at the point of judgement being handed down (I'd have thought that would be the ideal time because it's normally 'loser' pays, you wouldn't know whether to apply until you know if you won/lost).
Apparently the court can think that awarding costs can be negative to the child i.e if mother has to pay but I'd say it is negative to the child if father has to pay. Anyway I'm not wanting to claim against mother - that is pointless and will only cause more friction, plus she'll say she doesn't have the money. I'm wanting to claim against the lord chancellor because she was legally aided, based on false allegations of DV, the case had poor prospects of success all along and the stakes were higher than normal because it wasn't just a case of how much time either of us would get - she was applying to relocate him to a non convention country - that meant I had to pay for 'expert' reports ordered by the court and a barrister (in hindsight I should not have wasted money on a barrister, he had no idea of the law or issues in the case), but of course you fall into the trap that no expense should be spared for the sake of your child's wellbeing.
Considering there is no negative impact possible on the child or parents if the costs are awarded (well it would be a positive impact) and the evidence was so clear that the mother's barister didn't want a fact find (findings would be made against mother). If there had have been a fact find, I could have claimed costs and I could have claimed against lord chancellor/legal aid authority.
There isn't much information at all online and my 'barister' hasn't got a clue. I don't fancy spending another £3 to £5k on a solicitor when I probably won't get anything back.
So, current position is, had the final hearing but awaiting judgement. - I haven't yet applied for costs but wondering if I still can. The information available online suggests that costs are rare in children cases but it's at judge's discretion and can be granted, normally depending on the behaviour of the parties. However it's unclear if I can apply at the point of judgement being handed down (I'd have thought that would be the ideal time because it's normally 'loser' pays, you wouldn't know whether to apply until you know if you won/lost).
Apparently the court can think that awarding costs can be negative to the child i.e if mother has to pay but I'd say it is negative to the child if father has to pay. Anyway I'm not wanting to claim against mother - that is pointless and will only cause more friction, plus she'll say she doesn't have the money. I'm wanting to claim against the lord chancellor because she was legally aided, based on false allegations of DV, the case had poor prospects of success all along and the stakes were higher than normal because it wasn't just a case of how much time either of us would get - she was applying to relocate him to a non convention country - that meant I had to pay for 'expert' reports ordered by the court and a barrister (in hindsight I should not have wasted money on a barrister, he had no idea of the law or issues in the case), but of course you fall into the trap that no expense should be spared for the sake of your child's wellbeing.
Considering there is no negative impact possible on the child or parents if the costs are awarded (well it would be a positive impact) and the evidence was so clear that the mother's barister didn't want a fact find (findings would be made against mother). If there had have been a fact find, I could have claimed costs and I could have claimed against lord chancellor/legal aid authority.
There isn't much information at all online and my 'barister' hasn't got a clue. I don't fancy spending another £3 to £5k on a solicitor when I probably won't get anything back.