Melton & Hurley (No 2)

In *Melton & Hurley (No 2)*, the applicant father sought an order for costs against the respondent mother, who in turn sought her own costs of the father's application. The father contended that the mother's conduct warranted a costs order in his favour.

The central legal issue before Carew J was whether the conduct of the mother justified an order for her to pay the father's costs, and conversely, whether the father's application for costs was itself a matter for which he should bear the mother's costs.

Carew J dismissed the applications for costs. The court was not persuaded to make an order in favour of the father, noting that he had failed to produce any evidence that legal costs were incurred in the amount claimed or at all. Consequently, both the father's application for costs against the mother and the mother's application for costs against the father were dismissed.