CANTWELL & CANTWELL

In *Cantwell & Cantwell*, Berman J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application for costs made by the wife, which was filed out of time. The primary dispute concerned whether to extend the time for the wife to make her costs application, and the court had to assess the prejudice to each party if time were extended or not. A further issue arose from a dispute regarding the date on which final orders in the substantive proceedings were made.

The court was required to determine two principal legal issues. Firstly, whether to grant an extension of time for the wife to file her costs application, considering the prejudice to each party. Secondly, the court had to determine the appropriate costs order between the parties, applying the factors set out in section 117(2A) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), including whether any party had been wholly unsuccessful and the complexity of the litigation.

Berman J reasoned that the wife's amended application in a case should be dismissed. While the judgment does not explicitly detail the reasoning for dismissing the application or the specific factors considered under s 117(2A), the decision implies that the wife's application for costs was not successful, either due to the lateness of the application or the substantive merits of the costs claim in light of the overall proceedings. The court ultimately ordered that the wife's Amended Application in a Case filed 6 February 2018 be dismissed.