Following settlement of two family law motions concerning parenting time and access to child-related information, the court determined whether a costs award should nevertheless be made.
Applying Rule 24 of the Family Law Rules, the court held that costs may appropriately follow settlement where success and unreasonable conduct can still be assessed.
The court found that the mother made early, consistent, and reasonable offers on the core parenting issue that closely matched the ultimate resolution, while the father achieved limited success on the information motion.
Balancing divided success, litigation conduct, the timing of offers, and deficiencies in the mother's bill of costs, the court ordered the father to pay the mother $6,000 inclusive.
