1. Costs you need to pay after your case

After Family Court

Costs you need to pay after your case

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Overview

After your case is finished, you may need to pay costs to your lawyer, other people involved in the case, or the Family Court. Read this page to see what costs you may or may not need to pay.

Lawyers’ costs

Paying a private lawyer

If you have a private lawyer, ask them about the best way to pay for their services. Some lawyers may ask you to pay for their time up front - while others may be okay to wait until the end of your case. The costs, and when and how to pay your lawyer, will be in the letter of engagement they’ll send you at the start.

Repaying for a legal aid lawyer

If you used a legal aid lawyer for your case, you’ll likely need to repay some or all of the cost. When your legal aid was granted, a letter was sent to you and your lawyer telling you the maximum amount you may need to pay back. You’ll be sent another letter when your legal aid lawyer finalises your case. This will tell you how much you’ll need to pay.

You have the option to repay legal aid debt by weekly or fortnightly instalments. If your financial situation has changed since your legal aid was granted, you can apply to have some, or all, of your legal aid debt cancelled. This is called a ‘write off’.

Once your case is closed, you should contact the Legal Aid Debt team to chat about your repayment options. Contact the Legal Aid Debt team:

If you don’t arrange to pay your legal aid debt, the Legal Aid Debt team may decide to get back the money you owe through enforcement options. Enforcement can include taking money out of your wages, benefit, or bank account.

Paying costs to the other people involved

In some cases, the judge may order you to pay costs to the other people involved in your case - to help cover their legal fees. This is called an ‘Order for Costs’.

The judge decides who has to pay costs and how much they’ll need to pay. The Order for Costs will usually say:

  • how much you have to pay
  • who you have to pay
  • when you have to pay.

Cost Contribution Order

A ‘Cost Contribution Order’ says how much money you have to repay to the Family Court. A judge will decide if you need to pay a Cost Contribution Order.

These costs contribute to any specialist reports, Lawyer for Child, or a Lawyer to Assist the court in your case. Lawyers and specialist report writers are paid for their time, travel, and expenses to work on your case.  The government will pay one third of the cost, and the remaining two thirds are split between everyone involved in your case.

The court will try to contact you to ask you to file a submission. This happens once your case has finished. They’ll also tell you how long you have to file your submission form. Your submission can say:

  • whether you think the judge should make a Cost Contribution Order
  • if you think there are any reasons why you shouldn’t have to pay your share.

Reasons you may be exempt from paying your share

You’ll need to have a good reason to not pay your share of the Cost Contribution Order. For example:

  • you have legal aid
  • paying back the money would cause you or your child serious financial hardship
  • because of the circumstances of the case - for example, you think the conduct of the other parties caused your case to go for longer than was needed.

How to file a submission

Submissions may be hard to fill in on your own. If you don’t have a lawyer, there is support available to help you complete the forms.

Organisations to help you

Get legal advice or help

1

Understand what else you'll need

Financial hardship - you may want to attach supporting documents to help the judge understand your situation better. For example:

  • bank statements from the last month
  • a statement from Work and Income.

Circumstances of the case - you’ll need to make sure everyone involved in the case is given an exact copy of your submission.

Serving documents

2

Complete a submissions form

The court will send you a ‘Submissions on contributions to the cost of service provision’ form.

The court can only contact you if they have the right address details or phone number for you. If these change for any reason, contact the Family Court on 0800 268 787 to update your details.

Use a BLUE or BLACK ballpoint pen if you complete the form by hand.

3

Get all your documents together

Your application must include:

  • a completed and signed ‘Submissions on contributions to the cost of service provision’ form
  • any other documents that support your submission - for example, bank statements, legal aid grant letter, statement from Work and Income
4

Send the court your submission

You’ll need to send your submission to the court where your case was heard. You can give your submission to the court in person, by mail, by email, or electronically using our File and Pay service. When you send your application, it must have the original signatures.

Court staff will contact you if they need more information.

Go to File and Pay(external link)

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Fees when using the Family Court

There is no court filing fee to file this submission.

When will the judge make a Cost Contribution Order

Once the submissions have been received from all the people involved in the case, or the time for sending them has passed, the Judge will read the submissions before making a decision. If you’re asking for an exemption because of the circumstances of the case, the other people involved in the case may also be given time to respond.

The judge will read all the submissions filed to the court by the timeframe. You won’t go to the court to speak with the Judge about the ‘Cost Contribution Order’. Once the judge has made a decision, you will be sent a copy of the outcome.

If you’re told you need to pay a cost contribution

If the court couldn’t contact you, they didn’t receive a submission for you, or the judge decides you still need to pay a cost contribution you’ll be sent a letter saying how much you have to pay. To arrange payment or seek further advice, you can contact the Crown Debt Management team:

If you don’t arrange to pay what you owe, the Crown Debt Management team may decide to get back the money you owe through enforcement options. Enforcement can include taking money out of your wages or benefit payments.

Feeling overwhelmed?

Going to Family Court can be hard. It's normal to feel overwhelmed. There are services available to help and support through this time.

Visit our help page