In civil litigation it is the general position that costs follow
the event which means that the losing party will pay the winning
party's costs. In fact, Order 66 Rule 1 of the Rules of the
Supreme Court 1971 (WA) states that the Court will generally
order that the successful party to any action or matter shall
recover their costs.
This general position is not always applicable to proceedings
commenced under the Family Provision Act 1972 (WA) (the
FP Act). Section 14(6) of the FP Act provides that
the Court may make "such order as to the costs of any
proceedings under this [FP] Act as it deems just".
On 21 August 2014 Sadie Craig made an application to the Court
seeking an extension of time to file her application for an order
that adequate provision be made out of her late husband's
estate. This application was made just over five weeks after the
six month period had expired under the FP Act. His Honour Justice
Mitchell dismissed Mrs Craig's application for leave
