Tumlin and Tumlin

In *Tumlin and Tumlin*, the husband was ordered to pay the wife’s costs of property proceedings for a specific period, with her broader application for costs being dismissed. The decision was made by Watts J.

The central legal issue before the court was the appropriate allocation of costs in family law property proceedings, specifically whether the wife should be awarded her costs incurred during a defined period of the litigation, and more generally, her costs of the proceedings.

Watts J considered the conduct of the parties during the litigation. The order for costs against the husband was made in relation to the period from 23 May 2012 to 12 October 2016, indicating that the court found the husband’s conduct during that time warranted a costs order in favour of the wife. However, the wife’s application for costs beyond this period, and for the costs of her application for costs itself, was dismissed, suggesting that the court did not find sufficient grounds to depart from the usual rule that parties bear their own costs in family law matters for the remainder of the proceedings. The court applied the principles governing costs in family law, which generally require a departure from the usual rule to be justified by the conduct of the parties.