are costs always awarded?

[standing on the sidelines]

My buddy and me got into a little arguement and I am checking to see who is right.

the background is my buddy never went to court for his divorce CS etc, they settled out of court. I never went either due to settling out of court.

I have a friend who had to take their ex to court to get visitation etc and ended up paying a lot of money because of the court case. He ended up with visitation but not 50/50 as his lawyer never even said it was an option. This all happened about 8 years ago.

When i mentioned to my buddy how my friend got this huge debt from the legal shit, my buddy said that if it went to court my friend should not have paid anything if he was being denied access (no court order for access,she moved out and wouldnt let him see the kid so he took her to court).

I tried to explain to my buddy in family court not everything is so simple. He got defensive with me stating that my friend is lying to me and if he won his court case then his ex would have to pay his bills ( each paid their own legal fees) I told him that he is thinking more of contract law or a civil matter.

who is right???

[NBDad]

Neither of you. Costs are generally awarded ONLY when you both asked for them, AND the other party is being unreasonable. In your friends situation, if he got hit with costs, he either did not do things properly, OR had an offer to settle on the table that was similar to what he wound up with.

[hadenough]

NBDad is right. Unless the judge dismisses the option for either party to seek/submit costs, ie; "each party will pay their own costs" - then cost submissions are welcome and need to be prepared and submitted within X amout of days. I was awarded costs, but not on a full indemnity basis. Still, it's several thousand dollars. The judge ruled on costs after a submission from my lawyer and a "response" submission to costs from X's lawyer. They remain unpaid. Just another fun thing I have to deal with.

[standing on the sidelines]

NBDad is right. Unless the judge dismisses the option for either party to seek/submit costs, ie; "each party will pay their own costs" - then cost submissions are welcome and need to be prepared and submitted within X amout of days. I was awarded costs, but not on a full indemnity basis. Still, it's several thousand dollars. The judge ruled on costs after a submission from my lawyer and a "response" submission to costs from X's lawyer. They remain unpaid. Just another fun thing I have to deal with.

Hmm i will have to ask my friend if his lawyer did that. The way he makes it sound he wasnt happy with the way his lawyer handled things and felt short-changed by it.

There will be more court in the future for him as the CS is very vague with the end date, there is nothing very specific about what happens after the child turns 18. Nothing about post secondary education (each parent just completed high school, no college or university) or anything. I will make sure when that time comes I direct him to this site so he can get some advice from people who have been there, done that.

[hadenough]

No question that some lawyers do f*ck things up and things are left unclear. Just look at how many ppl on here struggle to interpret the "meaning" of their SA agreements. Your friend should do a lot of research, there's some helpful books out there. Using this forum for info and going through CanLii cases as well. Family Court is a zoo in many ways - hard to say what might've gone wrong for him. I am still appalled at the amount of LYING that seems to be acceptable in Family Court. By litigants and their lawyers. It's insane. A procedural Gong-Show for sure!

[standing on the sidelines]

No question that some lawyers do f*ck things up and things are left unclear. Just look at how many ppl on here struggle to interpret the "meaning" of their SA agreements. Your friend should do a lot of research, there's some helpful books out there. Using this forum for info and going through CanLii cases as well. Family Court is a zoo in many ways - hard to say what might've gone wrong for him. I am still appalled at the amount of LYING that seems to be acceptable in Family Court. By litigants and their lawyers. It's insane. A procedural Gong-Show for sure!

Thats why i will send him here. He knows all the details better then I do and can answer questions etc better. Sometimes a key detail left out can change the whole scope of things. he does need to figure out what needs to be spelled out more clearly and get it done.

Too bad there wasnt a standard form to fill out when people are in courts for this stuff. Of course if that happened then the lawyers wouldnt be happy

[ddol1]

may I ask a question or two all related to what has been put here? NBDad made a statement that "as long as both sides ask for costs..... granted it is my opinion today; my lawyer asked for costs and I am using truth - her reply, her lawyer, was to request no costs and then went on to lie through out - every single line, dollar amount everything. I have the documents, or copies. So I see her as being anything but reasonable and extending this far more than it should but sinice there is no costs then the judge won't allow "my sides request?" Just having a hard time getting a handle on this. (this comes up for me on Monday when I get my say in what I would like to happen in my case")

Would this not just be a low handed trick on the ex's lawyer's part - to get ready to play the games(they really do not have much of a leg to stand on so I have been expecting the lies and the games - but I assumed costs would at least help with..... the extra costs to defend against the lies.... comment?

Would assigned costs - assuming there are any, have they ever be drawn from the final equalization only to the point that the lawyer who has those assigned costs to be paid actually gets paid "before the guilty party takesit and runs!" Other things I have read is the lawyer either gets paid as ordered by the court - but if it is ignored by the ex your lawyer "will turn back to you for ultimatly for payment." - The lawyer will get paid???? --Thanks