Part 36 offers in family financial remedy proceedings

[samanthamplified]

Hello,

Can Part 36 offers be used to settle issues in family financial remedy proceedings?

I've been given mixed answers...

I'm a LiP

Thanks x

No. It only applies to civil (non-family) cases.

Is there an equivalent for financial remedy?

What if the issue at hand (Part 36 offer for) is a civil issue within the family proceedings?

The issue I want to make an offer for is about challenging claims to ownership of property - a preliminary issue within the financial remedy proceedings

Is the Part 36 offer valid for this preliminary issue?

That changes things a bit.The usual presumption of no costs order won't apply. You should definitely make one., though it will not apply to the family part of the dispute.

Thanks Collabs

When you say the usual presumption of no costs won't apply, do you mean by making a Part 36, they will be liable for costs if they accept?

Costs in relation to the civil part of the claim will follow the event. If you want to compromise it (perhaps because you see that there are weaknesses on both sides and it is right to try and settle) and you make a part 36 offer that they fail to beat at court they will have to pay your costs at least from the date the offer was made.

Just assuming for the purpose of this discussion that the 3rd party is your husband's family, who are claiming to have a beneficial interest in property that he ostensibly owns. If your offer is that they should withdraw their claim and they accept that, you will have set out in your offer what should happen re costs already accrued. If you offer to split the difference and pay them half the value of their claim, and they fail to beat that at court - eg by getting 25% of the value of their claim, they will have to pay your costs from the date of your offer.

In relation to the family law part of the case (assuming you're in a divorce situation) the usual is that there are no orders for costs.

Thanks, but I read trying to apportion costs within a Part 36 offer can invalidate it, it's something that shouldn't be done...

Thanks but to clarify

I was querying Collab's comment:
"you will have set out in your offer what should happen re costs already accrued..."

I was told to not mention anything on costs in the Part 36 offer as it would invalidate it.

Also on Fam Law Sols comment:
Part 36 costs:
Claimant gets costs of proceedings up until acceptance
i.e. not costs between date of offer an date of acceptance

This is confusing

Also, I'm a Claimant/Applicant in the wider proceedings, so do I still make a Part 36 offer as a Claimant to settle this issue?

I'm willing to settle on the Intervener's claims

Hi,

Does anybody have anything to add to this?

I spoke to someone and he said there's nothing to stop a Part 36 offer to settle a preliminary issue - but he couldn't say anything about the costs consequences. The intervenor expressed a wish to join the proceedings, he was not invited.