Appeals to get out of court costs

[Greatmum]

Hello community, I was awarded sole custody At trial in June. I offered a couple offers to settle but ex was cocky and thought he would get everything he wanted. That did not happen.

Now he is sending letters ( we are still within 30 days) stating that the following conditions must be met in order for him not to appeal, including capping court costs and agreeing to a different access schedule.

My lawyer fears he does not have any money and by appealing, it's his way to get out of paying me. I incur more costs and at the end of the day, he can simply claim bankruptcy, therefore not paying my huge court bill.

Questions are...why do we allow this, shouldn't court costs be paid first, this is a burden to taxpayers and to me who has done nothing wrong...any suggestions what I can do? This man is a bully and is only in it to win.

Thank you for your reply,

[WorkingDAD]

My lawyer fears he does not have any money and by appealing, it's his way to get out of paying me. I incur more costs and at the end of the day, he can simply claim bankruptcy, therefore not paying my huge court bill.

I am in no way a lawyer or wannabe but that kind of interesting theory. To do appeal you need a lot of money. The biggest I think is transcript from actual trial. From what I know it estimated 400/hour.

Also keep in mind that appeal are extremely brutal process in terms of paperwork and timeline. It also very seldom to fly as you basically can only get it of judge made an error in the law or there are serious mishandling of evidence.

So if he does not have money appeal is very unlikely to happened, just blowing an air. IMHO.

WD

[arabian]

^agree with WD. Has to be an error in law for him to be successful in his appeal. Unless he has alot of diposable cash kicking around he likely won't do anything once his lawyer asks for a big fat retainer to appeal.

Some people always have to "be right" - I believe blink has a thread that she put up recently on the forum. That thread might be of interest to you.

[arabian]

The RIGHT-FIGHTER is the name of the thread, under general chat category

[Greatmum]

Thank you Arabian and WD. I felt so backed in a corner Friday I could not sleep all weekend. I will review right-fighter's thread...much appreciate, thanks for the time to reply

[Greatmum]

The judge requested transcripts at the trial so we both have them.

[arabian]

At the top of your screen select "main category". The select "general chat" and you will see RIGHT FIGHTER syndrome on there.

[WorkingDAD]

The judge requested transcripts at the trial so we both have them.

And who paid for that?

[mcdreamy]

Questions are...why do we allow this, shouldn't court costs be paid first, this is a burden to taxpayers and to me who has done nothing wrong...any suggestions what I can do? This man is a bully and is only in it to win.

Thank you for your reply,

Taxpayers won't be paying your court bill. If your ex doesn't pay, your lawyer will be looking to you.

[Greatmum]

Exactly, so ex doesn't pay my court costs from this trial as awared, tries to appeal and then when has to pay more of my costs he will just claim bankruptcy....his lawyers will be out, il be out...doesn't seem just considering.

[mcdreamy]

I think you misunderstand me. Your lawyer was retained by you, and you have an account with him. Whether the court ordered your ex to pay it or not; whether the ex declares bankruptcy or not, at the end of the day, that account is on you.

eta: Sorry - just re-read your post. If his lawyers have any sense, they won't be doing an appeal on his behalf. If they haven't been paid yet or have enough of a retainer to cover their own past court costs, they won't continue working for a probable/possible bankrupt either.

[Greatmum]

@working dad....I would assume the transcripts were split amongst both parties. They were requested first day of trial. However I know we got some sort of "deal" so they were cheaper, I'm not sure if the output of them were cheaper, it was a 12 day trial so lots of transcripts.....

[Tayken]

Hello community, I was awarded sole custody At trial in June. I offered a couple offers to settle but ex was cocky and thought he would get everything he wanted. That did not happen.

Now he is sending letters ( we are still within 30 days) stating that the following conditions must be met in order for him not to appeal, including capping court costs and agreeing to a different access schedule.

My lawyer fears he does not have any money and by appealing, it's his way to get out of paying me. I incur more costs and at the end of the day, he can simply claim bankruptcy, therefore not paying my huge court bill.

Questions are...why do we allow this, shouldn't court costs be paid first, this is a burden to taxpayers and to me who has done nothing wrong...any suggestions what I can do? This man is a bully and is only in it to win.

Thank you for your reply,

Appeals are threatened every day in family law matters... They never happen and rarely do. If only 10% of matters go to trial... Only 0.1% of the 10% that do go to trial ever make it to appeal probably.

You can ignore the threats of an appeal. The paperwork (as described by WD) is an incredible nightmare to compile. Also there has to be an error in judgement / law. Not something the average regular "unrepresented" party can do. Even the top lawyers can't even get the paperwork together for an appeal.

I would keep the threats of the appeal for future issues that will evolve. If you are dealing with a highly conflicted litigant after the appeal time moves past they will "hunt" out a "material change in circumstance" to re-open the can of worms.

It is easier to establish prima facia for a material change in circumstance than an appeal.

[Greatmum]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. So I think his letter stating he's been in contact with a "Toronto lawyer" ( not sure if that makes it look more serious being as the lawyer is from Toronto) or his demands are hot air, trying to bully me into some sort of schedule.

I really appreciate the time responding....

[hadenough]

Why did the Judge order transcripts during/after trial?

I didn't order my transcript, but 2.5 days of Trial was approx 6k, if I did want it. No Thanks :/

Appeals are very costly and time consuming. They rarely happen in Family Court. Should he file an appeal (no guarantee on the success of it) all orders still stand. There's no "break" or reprieve given to the (applicant) appellant. My ex threatened to "appeal" as well. It didn't happen.

I can understand the fear of his filing for bankruptcy, and only too well. Has he told you that he will resort to that? (Preferably in an email). Does he have any assets? Contact the OSB (Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy) and ask a bankruptcy analyst for info re: persons who file bankruptcy to avoid paying court ordered costs: Home - Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada