Legal costs

Can I claim back all my legal expenses against the other side? I have paid over £20,000 out in legal expenses whilst ex-partner is on legal aid.

If the costs were incurred in family proceedings the general rule is that each party bear their own costs.

There is a possibility of obtaining costs orders for specific issues or where the other side goes to a final hearing on a false premise i.e. lying to the court to obtain an unfair advantage. It is even possible to obtain a costs order against the Legal Services Commission where it unreasonably funds a baseless or vexatious claim.

However, your query sounds more general than that in which case I suspect that there are no circumstances that would warrant a costs order in your favour.

Charles

The family costs rule applies only where the parties were married or in children proceedings. If the parties weren't married and there were county court proceedings in relation to property, the default position is the loser pays. The Civil Procedure Rules apply, not the Family Procedure Rules.

It bears a mention that if the loser is in receipt of legal aid, the chances of the winner recovering their costs is severely diminished.

Charles

I have been in court today and the claimant changed his pleadings yet again - he has legal aid and I am paying out for my legal costs. He is now quite happy for me to make me sell my house (in my sole name) and see his children 4 and 8 homeless. Totally unreasonable - also he has never paid a penny in maintenance. So I thought I could claim back my legal costs.

His barrister has basically milked the system dry - ex was cross examined today and did no good at all for his cause and only served to show how ridiculous his initial claim was

If his barrister is being paid by the Legal Services Commission he won't have "milked the system dry".

If an assisted person is taking an unreasonable stance, the solicitor has to report this to the LSC who may, in turn, withdraw funding. What is unreasonable is decided upon by what is said and done by the client who will obviously describe your joint situation from his point of view - as you are doing here from your point of view. Each party probably believes they are in the right.

You need to bear in mind that the more costs your ex incurs, the more he will have to pay back from his settlement.

Charles