Q&As

Where a consent order provides for one party to pay the other’s costs but is silent as to the payment of interest on any unpaid costs, will interest automatically accrue where it is not provided for in the order? Will a costs order be classed as a judgment debt?

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Produced in partnership with David Salter

Published on: 16 August 2022

This Q&A assumes that the query relates to the payment of interest on unpaid costs, rather than the payment of interest generally.

Interest may be payable in family proceedings in a number of circumstances:

•
under section 23(6) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) on deferred lump sums, only where so ordered
•
automatically under section 17 of the Judgments Act 1838 (JA 1838) or the County Courts (Interest on Judgment Debts) Order 1991 (1991 Order), SI 1991/1184 made under section 74 of the County Courts Act 1984 (CCA 1984) as amended by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (County Court and Family Court: Consequential Provision) Order 2014, SI 2014/1773 (applying CCA 1984, s 74 and the 1991 Order, SI 1991/1184 to the Family Court)
on costs under the Civil Procedure

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David Salter

Solicitor (non-practising)

David Salter has enjoyed a varied career in family law with over 45 years’ experience. He served as National Head of Family Law at Addleshaw Goddard and, subsequently, as Joint National Head of Family Law at Mills & Reeve, retiring in 2018.

From 1997-1999, David was Chairman of Resolution, also acting as the first Chairman of Resolution’s Accreditation Committee. He subsequently became President of the International Academy of Family Lawyers from 2010 to 2012, having previously served as the Academy's European Chapter President.

He has sat in various part-time judicial posts since 1985 sitting regularly as a deputy High Court judge and Recorder in the Family Court until March 2022. He now conducts private financial dispute resolution appointments.

David was one of the original members of the Family Procedure Rules Committee which framed the 2010 Rules, serving a ten-year term from 2004 to 2014.

He is a prolific author on a variety of family topics with an acknowledged expertise in relation to pensions on divorce. He is a contributor to the Family Court Practice (The Red Book), Butterworths Family Law Service, Rayden and Jackson, the International Family Law Practice and LexisPSL Family.