costs order - what happens if you don't pay

[Janus]

basically, even thought I won my motion, judge said mom would get costs of $1500, payable by next court date - to which I don't agree to.

You must have engaged in some serious misconduct during the trial to win and have costs ordered against you. I would be careful about "not agreeing". An appeal would likely cost more than $1500

I think my lawyer did a crappy job

That's between you and your lawyer.

What would happen if I didn't pay ?

It depends. It could hurt your credit rating of course, assuming she is proactive about collecting. If you plan on continuing in court it will look bad. Other than that, you can probably avoid it forever.


Seems like a relatively low costs order, probably not worth ducking. If you had $50,000 in costs ordered, then sure, it might be worth it, but this is too low to be worth the grief.

[plainNamedDad44]

basically, even thought I won my motion, judge said mom would get costs of $1500, payable by next court date - to which I don't agree to.

There were no offers to settle by either side, and I think my lawyer did a crappy job as he messed up some critical facts and didn't get the documents in to show the truth of what actually happened.

Can I appeal the costs order ? What would happen if I didn't pay ?

Pay it. Otherwise they'll motion for an SDO (source deduction order) and get FRO after you. You'll end up paying more. I managed to extract costs from my STBX this way.

[arabian]

you can get information from the FRO website.

If you don't pay, and/or make an arrangement with FRO, then you will be garnished at your employment. You would also have your future income tax returns (GST/HST rebate cheques) garnished.

[Tayken]

basically, even thought I won my motion, judge said mom would get costs of $1500, payable by next court date - to which I don't agree to.

Because you were being the bigger tool. 1500 is a small costs award.

There were no offers to settle by either side, and I think my lawyer did a crappy job as he messed up some critical facts and didn't get the documents in to show the truth of what actually happened.

There is no "truth". Family Court is not a fact-finding mission. 90% of what you barf out in affidavits (both parties) is irrelevant nonsense that only demonstrates how much you can't get along with the other party.

Ultimately, the court found that you were unreasonable. Ordered costs. Appealing costs is stupid. An appeal is worth 25,000 in costs just to get put forward with a good lawyer (roughly). You are going to spend 25,000 to get back 1,500? An ERROR IN LAW has to have been made. Suffice to say... you are not going to be successful on the appeal and end up paying easily 10-15k.

Can I appeal the costs order ? What would happen if I didn't pay ?

The better question is: Should I appeal the costs order?
Best answer: NO!

What would happen if I didn't pay?
Answer: http://canlii.ca/t/gjg8q

You could be forced to pay a security for costs to continue in your matter...