BC Supreme Court Family Costs: Rule 16-1 & Appendix B

“Costs” are not your legal bill. The tariff, disbursements, lump-sum costs and special costs are legal concepts. A party can spend much more on actual legal fees than the amount recoverable as costs.

The general framework

Rule 16-1 says that, when costs are payable, they must be assessed under Appendix B unless an exception in the rule applies, including agreed costs, special costs or a lump-sum award.

Appendix B is a tariff

Current 2026 tariff: Appendix B changed January 19, 2026. The current schedule uses less than ordinary / ordinary / more than ordinary difficulty for specified items and fixed dollar amounts — not the former Scale A/B/C unit values. For example, Item 1 is $1,000 / $3,000 / $5,000 depending on difficulty.

LegalCostCanada now has dedicated guides to Form F71 Bill of Costs, Form F55 Appointment, Form F72 and the new Form F99.1 costs-assessment offer.

The current tariff assigns amounts to categories of work such as pleadings, discovery, contested applications, conferences and trial days. It is not an hourly-rate reimbursement schedule.

Applications can have cost consequences

Interim applications may affect costs, and costs can also be influenced by conduct, offers to settle and court orders. Do not assume an application is financially consequence-free simply because the overall case continues.

Disbursements are separate

Reasonable disbursements can include expenses such as transcripts, service and expert costs, subject to the Rules and assessment.

Use costs strategically, not emotionally

Before spending several thousand dollars pursuing a modest issue, compare the likely legal expense, the practical value at stake and the realistic costs consequences.