By the time your former partner decides to abandon their court application, you may already have spent months responding to it with funds earmarked for other things spent on solicitors bills. Alongside relief that legal proceedings have ended, there is a frustration that if your ex started this, why should you be left paying for it?
Recovering costs is sometimes possible, but withdrawal does not create an automatic entitlement to reimbursement of fees paid. The answer largely depends on the proceedings involved and how the case was conducted.
Why the type of case matters
The situation can arise when a parent withdraws an application about time with a child, or when a spouse abandons financial proceedings following separation. Although each situation involves a family dispute, the same costs approach does not necessarily apply.
Under Part 28 of the Family Procedure Rules, the court has discretion over costs, but the usual civil presumption that costs follow the outcome does not apply.
For most financial proceedings arising from divorce, the general rule is that neither party pays the other’s costs. A departure from this point can be justified by a party’s bad litigation conduct, although in reality this is rare. In children proceedings, the established practice is also usually to make no order for costs, with awards reserved for unusual circumstances.
What the case of Pringle v Nervo tells us
The Court of Appeal considered this issue in Pringle v Nervo [2026] EWCA Civ 266, a case involving private children proceedings. The father sought to withdraw his applications shortly before a welfare hearing. The original judge ordered him to pay approximately £385,587, representing 75% of the mother’s legal costs.
On appeal, that substantial award was overturned, and the court substituted no order for costs, apart from the costs of preparing a declaration of parentage application which the father had accepted he should pay.
Late withdrawal was insufficient, by itself, to justify the original costs award. The Court of Appeal emphasised the need to consider the litigation as a whole, including the conduct of both parties.
The lesson is significant for someone facing a large bill after an ex withdraws their application; while the timing may feel unfair, it does not settle the costs question. The court still needs a proper basis for departing from the usual approach in children cases.
Why withdrawing late is not necessarily unreasonable
A parent may begin proceedings believing that a different living arrangement would benefit their child, only to come to understand, after taking professional advice, how unsettling the change could be. In those circumstances, withdrawing the application may be a responsible decision, despite the legal fees the other parent has already incurred.
As the case of Pringle illustrates, parents sometimes reconsider their positions at a late stage in children proceedings. If that alone were enough to justify a costs order, awards could become commonplace, and parents might feel discouraged from bringing an unsuitable application to an end.
In children proceedings, withdrawal requires the court’s permission, and the applicant ordinarily needs to explain the reasons for wishing to do so. In addition, the other parties involved in the proceedings must have an opportunity to respond to a written request before it is dealt with.
When conduct may justify a costs order
In children proceedings, unacceptable conduct or a position outside the range of what is reasonable may justify a costs award. However, losing an argument does not necessarily mean it was unreasonable to raise it.
A costs application therefore needs to explain what was wrong with the conduct of the litigation. A documented history of pursuing an issue despite clear evidence undermining its basis is likely to be relevant, although the court must examine the full context of allegations of poor litigation conduct.
The position in financial proceedings
In most financial proceedings following divorce, each person is expected to pay their own legal costs. However, the court may take a different approach if the way one person has handled the case justifies it. This could include failing to provide financial information or continuing to argue a point unreasonably. The judge must also consider how a costs order would affect each person financially.
For example, one spouse may have repeatedly ignored a court order requiring them to produce documents. The other spouse pays their solicitor to chase the missing information, but the application is eventually withdrawn. When considering costs, the court would examine the failures and the additional legal work they caused.
How much might you recover?
Even a successful application does not guarantee repayment of the whole bill. The court may award a proportion or limit recovery to a particular stage or an order might address the expense of one unnecessary hearing rather than everything spent since the proceedings began.
Where costs are assessed on the standard basis, they must be reasonable and proportionate. The amount recoverable from your former partner may therefore be lower than the amount you owe your own solicitor. Here, the court can assess the figure itself or direct a detailed assessment.
Taking the next step
Once withdrawal is proposed, the immediate priority is to clarify the court position and prevent further avoidable expense. A focused costs request may be more useful than a demand for every bill to be repaid, and should explain the legal basis and identify the amount sought, supported by the relevant records. In financial cases, an intention to seek costs should ordinarily be made clear before the hearing in open correspondence or written submissions.
While it is understandable to want the court to recognise what the dispute has cost you, it is important to understand that a costs application can create another round of expense. Therefore, the decision to pursue it should reflect the strength of the evidence as well as the size of the existing bill.
If your former partner has withdrawn family proceedings after you have incurred substantial legal fees, contact our team today. We can assess whether a costs application is justified and help you decide on a proportionate way forward.