How have courts dealt with costs in a matrimonial proceeding where the parties settled all issues except costs?

Notwithstanding these difficulties, some courts have awarded costs in cases where the parties settled all issues except costs. In O’Brien v. O’Brien, 2009 CanLII 64829, Taylor J. did determine the costs of a matrimonial proceeding that settled all issues by consent but reserved the issue of costs to be determined by the court. He approached this task with some caution, and determined that the most important factor for him to determine was the reasonableness and timeliness of the parties’ respective settlement offers. He stated at paras. 8 and 9: The parties wisely chose to settle their differences in order to avoid a trial. The one issue that they were unable to totally resolve was the issue of costs which they agreed to submit to a judge for determination. Notwithstanding the position taken by both parties, I decline to go behind the freely negotiated terms of settlement and engage in an exercise of determining which party's position on each issue I would have accepted had I been the trial judge. Counsel for both parties also made lengthy and detailed submissions about how unreasonable the other party was during the course of the litigation. While the reasonableness of the conduct of parties is a consideration pursuant to Rule 25 of the Family Law Rules, it is only one consideration and in my view is not the most important consideration. In my opinion, the most important factor in determining both entitlement to and quantum of costs is the reasonableness and timeliness of the parties' respective settlement offers.