LATER
17The wife applies for costs. It might be thought somewhat counterintuitive that she should be applying for costs in circumstances where the husband has agreed to pay all her costs. However, the husband’s agreement is qualified, which is that he reserves the right to seek a recoupment of all or part of the costs that he has paid at the end of the case should he succeed in his notice to show cause application. The wife therefore applies for the costs on an indemnity basis in order to forestall any possibility of the husband being able to recoup the costs of the hearing before me today should the wife be defeated in her resistance of the show cause application and the husband otherwise have a valid recoupment application against her. 18That is, in my judgment, a good reason for applying for costs, provided it is well understood, the order having been made, there is no question of any value passing under that order, but it would only be used, to use that weary expression, as a shield and not as a sword at a later date.19So, in my judgment, the wife, having brought the application for enforcement, and having brought the application for variation, has succeeded. She has not succeeded wholly, but she has succeeded partially on both applications. 20 I have made, for the purposes of the judgment that I have given, a finding against the husband that he has been guilty of negligence and, in my judgment, that finding of negligence takes the case out of the norm. In my judgment, the wife should recover an order for costs, and it should be to be assessed on an indemnity basis because, for the reasons I have given, the conduct of the husband has taken the case out of the norm. __________