Are family court costs awards different from costs awards in civil litigation?

Family court costs share the same basic idea as civil litigation costs — the losing or less successful party often contributes to the other side's legal expenses — but family costs decisions place particular emphasis on settlement conduct and the parties' behaviour throughout the case, reflecting family law's strong policy preference for resolving disputes without a full trial wherever possible. The Family Law Rules give judges significant discretion to weigh offers to settle, disclosure compliance, and overall conduct specifically to discourage unnecessary or prolonged litigation between people who often need to keep dealing with each other, particularly where children are involved.

In practice, this means a family court is often especially focused on whether a party acted reasonably and cooperated with the process, sometimes more so than simply looking at who "won" on the substantive issues, compared to how costs might be approached in some other types of civil disputes. Because family costs decisions are still fact-specific and discretionary, and the underlying principles overlap significantly with general civil practice, anyone with a costs question in a family case should get advice from a family lawyer familiar with how local family courts actually apply these principles.