Our approach was methodical and built for this exact outcome — positioning the mother to succeed whether the matter settled or went to a full hearing.
First, we established a clear paper trail. Between August 2022 and April 2024, we served three formal written offers of settlement under s 117(2A)(f) of the Family Law Act. Each offer was reasonable, consistent, and closely aligned with the Family Report recommendations. This wasn’t just good practice — it created the foundation for a costs argument if the father refused to settle.
Second, we prepared the mother’s case thoroughly for trial. Despite the father filing no trial material of his own, we ensured the mother’s evidence, affidavits, and submissions were ready. This put the father in an untenable position on the morning of the hearing — he had no evidence to run, no realistic prospect of success, and was facing a fully prepared opponent.
Third, we moved immediately for costs. When the father agreed to consent orders at 10:50am on the first morning, we made an oral application for costs on the spot. We argued that the father’s refusal to accept settlement offers over two years had put the mother to unnecessary expense, and that his position at trial amounted to a complete capitulation — consenting to substantially the same orders the mother had been proposing since 2022.
The father consented to final orders on the morning of the hearing. The mother was granted sole parental responsibility. The child was ordered to live with the mother with no time to be spent with the father. The father was permitted only to send cards, letters, and photographs to the child.
The Court then ordered the father to pay the mother’s costs fixed at $9,000, finding it was just to depart from the usual rule given the father’s complete capitulation, his rejection of three reasonable settlement offers, and the unnecessary expense incurred by the mother in preparing for trial.
The ICL’s separate costs application against the mother was dismissed — the Court found it would not be just to burden the mother with additional costs given her financial circumstances, childcare responsibilities, and legal fees already incurred.
A formal written offer to resolve proceedings. If the other party rejects the offer and the final outcome is equal to or better than what was offered, the Court can take that into account when deciding whether to award costs. In this case, three rejected offers over two years were central to the costs argument.