Court will order me to pay full costs

I have the possibility that I will be ordered to be £15k in costs

What happens if I dont have that amount of money (or anywhere near)

Im currently in debt by £1.5k and cant settle before FH as they want £10k in cash, so I might as well go to trial as £10k £15k doesnt matter as I dont have it!

What are my options?

Normally you pay your own costs in these types of proceedings but what do you mean here ?

Are you saying your own costs amount to £15K or does that include your wife's costs as well ?

When you say that ' they ' want £10K, who are ' they ' ?
Your solicitors ? Do you think they are likely to continue working on your case if you owe them £10K which you can't pay ?

I will keep on saying it, but the more you two spend on lawyers the less there is for you. I don't know how far you and your wife are apart, but you must balance what you might possibly get from going to a FH against what it is going to cost you to achieve it. There is no point in spending another £10K if you are only £5000 better off as a result.

I am sorry to be rather blunt, and I realise that you may be thinking you might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb, but going to FH can inflate the costs quite a fair bit and I know many posters on this site will echo my warning about the potentially disastrous costs which can be incurred and anything you can do to
keep them down must be worth considering.

Mr and Mrs North were fighting over £202,000 and spent £400,000 doing it. Mr Piglowski and Mrs Piglowska had a dispute on ' a matter of principle ' and exhausted more or less all their assets squabbling about it.

Be careful.

Mike

mike100468 wrote:

Normally you pay your own costs in these types of proceedings

Mike,
Normally I totally agree with you; because you're knowledgable and quite learned! You're also probably quite good looking, and leave grown men intimidated in the Locker room. (This lady has an entertaining imagination!)

However, more and more posters are threatened with a Cost Order (including myself). In court on 9th July; the judge warned me I may be liable to ex's Costs; (in other words, if I don't win!)
Simply, I don't have them either; and feel I am being intimidated away from a fair settlement, and I feel the Justice system is NOT working unless you have the THOUSANDS of pounds to fight for you RIGHTS.

What the Law is SUPPOSED to be, isn't happening in actual practice. I had a discussion last week about 'Calderbank letters' (I've had several) and the response was they don't exist. But ex's sols are still hiding behind them.

I was the respondent in Occupation Order proceedings last Nov. I was Ordered out of the house, (it was deemed 'his' and he worked from home, and deemed neccesary to be rid of me). The judge awarded Costs to him, and I coughed up £17, 953.00
(I lost to a violent, abusive man who said he needed the protection of the courts because I'd phoned him a few times!!!)Even though there was a mutual exchange of phone calls; and no violence from me whatsoever!

He could afford a team of solicitor and barrister; and I was a LiP.(And I stayed because I was actively helping him with his Anger management; and he asked me to stay!)

I don't know if we should stop suggesting that "normally each party pays their own costs" because it's not what is being acted upon behind closed doors.

My AR case may be better fought under Commercial Litigation, (because I was dissolved from a Partnership under the Partnership law Act) I'm seeing a Barrister tomorrow. According to solicitors firms I've spoken to; Under Commercial Litigation I can use the 'NO WIN - NO FEE' system; and should I lose and be liable to ex's costs; I can take out Insurance against that. So my Case may be better away from the Family Court; because I'd have NOTHING to lose, and much more to gain. (Will post more on this once I've consulted a Barrister).

Sorry to waffle on and hi-jack the thread: But certainly the THREAT of a Costs award to the other party is a very serious concern to us mortals who have neither wonga, sheep or lambs!

My wife has applied for a costs order (that’s the they)

We had/have a Separation Agreement in place which was fine, BUT she had a modification to it

I’m in the remarried trap so cannot claim for anything against her and in the end couldn’t contest the changes (solicitors advice) even though the changes were made by her

I contested the agreement initially but once it came to light I had fallen in to the remarried trap then in the end I had to agree

She is now looking to recoup her costs to date... and it’s looking like she will win

She is looking for a compensation amount and then full solicitors costs totalling £15k

I’m in the position that I can only come out with nothing (if I was to win my defence)

Hiya jack

This is really interesting to me as I am trying to enforce a Separation Agreement.

Are you able to say on what grounds you were unable to contest it ?

Can you explain what she has needed to do to be awarded costs ?

I am self repping at the moment but may need to involve sols shortly as it's becoming far too complex for me.

If you feel you don't want to post detail here, you can PM me any info you think of help.

Many thanks

poppy

ps I'm sorry I don't know the answers to your questions....

JJ - forgive me if you've already said - but what are your wife's reasons for applying for costs- has she said?
I thought we all "went dutch" paid our own costs unless the other side could show industrial strength "litigation misconduct".
What happens to District Judges if they believe clients' money is being wasted and allow lost causes to drag on?
Are they struck off? Why are they threatening people with the other side's costs? Is it litigation misconduct by the judges?
Is there any mechanism for appealing costs before you have to pay them/at the hearing?

If you have a reasonably arguable case, and you conduct yourself properly in litigation proceedings, respond completely and promptly etc., then you are very unlikley to receive a costs award against you. Even if you would have under the old Calderbank rules.

My circumstances are that in an application for Shared Residence, my ex made false allegations about me which were recognised as false by 2 judges in preliminary hearings to the extend that they were dropped. Now we go to final hearing and I have requested costs (for all costs incurred up until the allegations were dropped). The judge hinted that I would be unlikely to receive costs which begs the question just how bad does your conduct have to be these days to warrent a costs order. Be good, not angry, only argue genuinely arguable points, don't argue points that you know you can't win on -> no costs (of course, there is always the exceptional judge on a bad day ...).