In a child protection proceeding arising from a high-conflict custody and access dispute, the court determined costs following an earlier order granting the father unsupervised access to the children.
The father sought substantial indemnity costs of $22,000 against the mother, while the mother argued for no costs or that the issue be reserved.
Applying rule 24 of the Family Law Rules and recognizing that the usual presumption of costs does not apply in protection cases, the court considered the parties’ conduct, the limited success achieved, and the modest means of both parents.
Although the father obtained some success on the access issue, both parties had engaged in past unreasonable conduct contributing to the conflict.
The court awarded a modest costs amount payable at the conclusion of the protection proceeding.
