In a family law costs decision following a focused hearing on common-law cohabitation, the court applied s. 131 of the Courts of Justice Act and Rule 24 of the Family Law Rules.
The court reviewed governing costs principles, including presumptive entitlement for success at a step, fairness and reasonableness, access to justice, and the relevance of litigation conduct and financial circumstances to quantum.
Although the successful party sought full indemnity costs for broader steps in the proceeding, the court confined the award to the focused hearing and found full indemnity unwarranted on the record.
The court fixed partial indemnity costs at 60% of the focused-hearing amount, totaling $8,014.64 inclusive of HST, payable in any event of the cause.
