Breached order - can costs be claimed?

Hi

If the res parent is in clear breach of the order, does anyone know if it's possible to claim the costs of taking it back to court for enforcement.

DH will be filing as LIP but there is the court fee plus the fact that he will have to take half a day off work unpaid and the costs of travelling to and from collecting his son only to find the house empty......

money is tight, bm knows this and I think she thinks he won't be able to afford to go down the route of enforcement - has anyone successfully claimed costs? We can borrow the money but it's not really the point.....

SM

It is possible to claim costs on Children Act matters but in most cases the Judge will adhere to the rule in family proceedings that each side bear their own costs.

When acting as a litigant in person there is very little chance of being reimbursed for loss of pay - I have never seen this occur. The court fee can be claimed back but again this is down to the discretion of the Judge.

fleagal wrote:

It is possible to claim costs on Children Act matters but in most cases the Judge will adhere to the rule in family proceedings that each side bear their own costs.

When acting as a litigant in person there is very little chance of being reimbursed for loss of pay - I have never seen this occur. The court fee can be claimed back but again this is down to the discretion of the Judge.

Does this also include enforcement proceeding for the new style contact orders where a warning is shown?

Otherwise what is the point of making any type of order whilst there is no consequence of punishment for breaking it.

T

Enforcement proceedings are by their nature necessary due to a party's non-compliance which amounts to litigation misconduct. This would mean that could be made by the court (and should be in my opinion) but 19/20 such cases lead to no costs order.

The new style contact orders contain a warning which the old orders didn't which is better than the old system as there is a penal system already in place with the new system. However, you would still need to incur legal costs to enforce which are unlikely to be recovered. Muliple breaches of the same type would give you more chance of a costs order but again, a costs order is by no means assured.

Charles

You stand very little chance of making an application for Costs.

Even with the new enforcement measures from the Children and Adoption Act, filing for enforcement of an order on a C79 form (which has a £175 fee) there is very little scope for applications for costs.

Costs are usually only recoverable if say the child missed a holiday that had already been booked and paid for by breach of an order.

sucks I know.

My partner had to make a recovery application when his wife didn't return the children following a contact visit and the Judge simply said he wasn't "sympathetic" to hearing arguments about costs. So £500.00 was washed away simply because she couldn't and doesn't like being told what to do by the original Interim Residency Order. The latest Order does have the penal notice attached now and thankfully we haven't had to go through a repeat performance.

Its always worth a try raising the issue of costs especially as LIP but be prepared for a scornful response from the judiciary.

I can only suggest you liken it to having to put fuel in the car etc it is costly but has to be done to get from A to B. Likewise the Court fees etc have to be paid to ensure proper contact/residency issues are solved.

Apologies, the cost for a C79 is £80, same as a C2 (application for variation of an existing order - which it is).

The dad I'm McKenzie'ing for has filed a C79 and has a hearing next week as mum decided to block contact and prevent his daughter enjoying a holiday with her father (despite agreeing to it in mediation and agreeing to it court, thus breaching a court order (an order that was made by consent)).

In fact, his ex has breached a court order twice now - because dad was supposed to have contact with his daughter fri-sun this week and she answered the door on friday, then slammed the door in his face.

... oh well, never mind about a 10 year old daughter who has missed out on a holiday with dad and a nice weekend with dad eh?

All because mum is selfish and thinking of herself.

Never mind, we will be back in Court on Tuesday wher mum is going to have to explain to the judge how it is in the child's best interests that she has not had a summer holiday and her usual long weekend with dad... it's sick that's what it is.

Dad has applied for costs consisting of; costs of the application, petrol, the days lost off work etc, all in all applied costs are £400 and if he gets half of that then that will send out a message to mum that she cannot act like this and she should work with dad and put the child at the centre of this.

I hope the judiciary will agree as we will be presenting a very convincing argument and mum will be called to account for her actions.