Costs

What costs means

In short, costs is a term you will meet in court papers, rules and legal research. The definition above gives its usual meaning in American civil practice. However, the exact meaning can depend on the rule, statute or court decision that uses it. So it helps to read the term in context.

Where costs comes up

For example, the term appears in these procedures:

• Bill of Costs (Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1); 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920, 1924): the prevailing party's itemized request for the court costs it may recover from the losing party. Under Rule 54(d)(1), costs other than attorney's fees should be allowed to the prevailing party unless a federal statute, the rules or a court order provides otherwise. Costs against the United States may be imposed only to the extent allowed by law.

Read the source: 28 U.S.C. § 1920.

How to research the term

First, read the term where it actually appears. A rule, statute or court decision may define it for its own purposes. Next, check whether your court has a local rule that uses costs in a special way. Then look at recent decisions from courts in your jurisdiction. They show how judges apply the term today. Also, remember that state law can differ from federal law. For that reason, use our state procedures guide to find your state’s rules. Finally, confirm every source is current before you rely on it.

You can read the official rule text online for free.

Related legal terms

• Corporation sole: a corporation made up of a single office and the successive people who hold it, used for example by some religious officials to hold property for the office rather than for themselves.
• Corpus: latin for "body." In trust law, the trust corpus is the property held in a trust, also called the principal or the trust res. The word also appears in phrases such as habeas corpus.
• Corpus delicti: latin for "the body of the crime." The principle that the prosecution must prove a crime actually occurred — generally that the injury or loss happened and was caused by someone's criminal act — and, in most jurisdictions, that a conviction cannot rest on a defendant's uncorroborated confession alone.
• Corruption of blood: a common-law consequence of attainder: the attainted person could neither inherit property nor pass it to heirs, so the line of inheritance through that person was cut off.

Why precise terms matter

Legal words often look like everyday words, but they can carry a precise meaning. Because of that, a small misreading can change how you understand a deadline, a duty or a right. Our glossary keeps each definition short and links it to the procedures where it matters.