Conrad and Conrad and Anor (No 3)

In *Conrad and Conrad and Anor (No 3)*, Forrest J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered applications for costs following property adjustment and spousal maintenance proceedings. The applicant wife sought costs from the first respondent husband for interim maintenance proceedings, while the first respondent husband sought costs from the applicant wife for property adjustment and spousal maintenance proceedings. The second respondent also sought costs from the applicant wife for property adjustment proceedings.

The central legal issues before the court were the allocation of costs for various stages of the proceedings, including interim maintenance, property adjustment, and applications to discharge or vary interim orders. The court was required to determine which party, if any, should bear the costs associated with these distinct phases of the litigation.

Forrest J's reasoning led to a complex cost order, reflecting the court's assessment of the conduct of the parties throughout the litigation. The court dismissed the wife's application for costs of the interim maintenance proceedings and the husband's and second respondent's applications for costs of the property adjustment proceedings. However, the husband was ordered to pay the wife's costs for the property adjustment proceedings from a specified date, and also her costs related to his applications to discharge, suspend, or vary the interim spousal maintenance order. The court also discharged previous orders made on 15 April 2019.