Costs in a debt case in Lithuania: what the debtor must pay

If you win a debt case, the court awards the litigation costs (bylinėjimosi išlaidos) you incurred against the debtor (Article 93(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPK)). They consist of the court fee (žyminis mokestis) and the costs related to hearing the case, including the costs of an advocate’s (advokatas) assistance (CPK Article 79(1); CPK Article 88(1)). An advocate’s costs are awarded only if you submit a request with a calculation and evidence before the end of the hearing on the merits (CPK Article 98(1)). Under a commercial contract covered by the Law on the Prevention of Late Payments in Commercial Contracts (MĮSVAĮ), a creditor who has become entitled to interest is also entitled to fixed compensation for recovery costs and to further recovery costs (MĮSVAĮ Article 7(1) and (2)). At the start, the enforcing creditor pays the bailiff (antstolis) the costs of administering the enforcement case and, in cases set by the Government, other enforcement costs, but enforcement costs are recovered from the debtor (CPK Article 610(1)).

Costs in court order proceedings are covered briefly in Court order, court fee and bailiff in Lithuania: what happens next. This article explains in more depth what you can recover and how.

What litigation costs consist of

Litigation costs consist of the court fee and the costs related to hearing the case (CPK Article 79(1)). The rules for calculating, paying, crediting and refunding the court fee are set by the Government or an institution it authorises (CPK Article 79(2)).

In a debt case, the following items of costs related to hearing the case are relevant (CPK Article 88(1)):

• sums paid to witnesses, experts, expert institutions and translators;
• costs of searching for the defendant;
• costs related to the service of procedural documents;
• costs related to the enforcement of the judgment;
• costs of the assistance of an advocate or an assistant advocate;
• costs related to interim measures;
• necessary and reasonable costs of a bailiff establishing facts and serving documents;
• other necessary and reasonable costs.

The maximum amounts of these costs and the procedure for paying them are set by the Government or an institution it authorises, except for the costs of an advocate’s assistance, interim measures, and the establishment of facts and service of documents by a bailiff (CPK Article 88(2)).

One limit matters from the outset. Costs of legal services are not treated as necessary and reasonable costs and are not reimbursed, except for legal services provided by advocates and assistant advocates (CPK Article 88(3)). So if the procedural documents were prepared by someone who is not an advocate, the CPK does not let you recover them from the debtor.

Award of litigation costs: how the court allocates them

• Claim granted in full. The court awards your costs against the debtor, even if the debtor is exempt from paying litigation costs to the state budget (CPK Article 93(1)).
• Claim granted in part. The claimant is awarded costs in proportion to the part of the claims granted, and the defendant in proportion to the part dismissed (CPK Article 93(2)). So do not claim sums you cannot support with documents: a dismissed part reduces the costs awarded to you and increases those awarded to the debtor.
• Conduct in the proceedings. The court may depart from these rules, taking into account whether the parties’ conduct in the proceedings was proper and the reasons the costs arose. Bad-faith use of mediation or an unreasoned refusal of mandatory mediation may also lead to this (CPK Article 93(4)).

If you lose the case, the court awards the costs to the debtor against you (CPK Article 93(1)). If the claim is dismissed, litigation costs are recovered for the state budget from a claimant who is not exempt from paying them (CPK Article 96(2)).

When a case ends without a judgment on the merits, the court allocates costs by assessing the parties’ conduct in the proceedings (CPK Article 94(1)). If a settlement agreement does not provide for the allocation of costs, the court does not allocate them between the parties (CPK Article 94(2)). So deal with costs in a separate clause of the settlement agreement. More in Ending a court case without a judgment in Lithuania: who bears the expenses.

Costs of an advocate’s assistance

The court awards the winning party, against the other party, the costs of the assistance of an advocate or assistant advocate in the hearing, and also for preparing procedural documents and giving advice (CPK Article 98(1)). For these costs to be awarded, three things are needed:

• a written request for the costs;
• a calculation and justification of the costs;
• evidence of the amount of the costs.

All of this is submitted before the end of the hearing on the merits. Costs submitted later are not awarded (CPK Article 98(1)). In one case decided in written proceedings, the Supreme Court refused evidence of costs that was filed after the hearing on the merits had ended, even though it arrived the same day (Supreme Court of Lithuania, ruling of 23 April 2026 in civil case No e3K-3-77-378/2026, para. 53). So attach invoices and proof of payment to the statement of claim (ieškinys), and submit later costs before the hearing on the merits ends.

The amount awarded has a cap. Taking into account the complexity of the case and the advocate’s work and time, the costs awarded may not exceed those set in the recommendations approved by the Minister of Justice together with the Chair of the Lithuanian Bar Council (CPK Article 98(2)). This rule applies in the first-instance, appeal and cassation courts (CPK Article 98(3)).

When a court order could have been sought

If the claim could have been satisfied under the court order (teismo įsakymas) procedure, but you brought a claim under the general rules, the court fee and other litigation costs are awarded to you only on the part of the claim the defendant disputed. The exception applies if the defendant’s conduct gave you grounds to believe the defendant would dispute the claim (CPK Article 434(4)). If you choose a claim, keep the debtor’s replies or letters disputing the debt: they show such grounds.

Recovery costs under the MĮSVAĮ

This law applies to commercial contracts between business entities, or between business entities and public entities (MĮSVAĮ Article 1(2)), but not to transactions with consumers (MĮSVAĮ Article 1(3)(1)) or to payments where bankruptcy or restructuring proceedings have been opened against the debtor or an out-of-court bankruptcy is under way (MĮSVAĮ Article 1(3)(4)). Under it, the creditor has two separate rights:

• Fixed compensation. A creditor who has become entitled to interest under the contract or the law has the right, without any warning, to receive from the debtor a fixed sum in the amount set by the law (MĮSVAĮ Article 7(1)).
• Higher costs. In addition to that sum, the creditor may claim compensation for all recovery costs above it that are related to the late payment, including fees for advocates’ services and costs of recovering losses out of court (MĮSVAĮ Article 7(2)).

If the contract provides for payment in instalments and an instalment is not paid on time, the creditor is entitled to interest and to compensation for recovery costs as set out in MĮSVAĮ Article 7 (MĮSVAĮ Article 8). A contract term that makes it impossible to compensate recovery costs is presumed unfair towards the creditor (MĮSVAĮ Article 9(4)).

In the statement of claim, separate the costs you ask to be awarded as litigation costs under the CPK from those claimed as recovery costs under MĮSVAĮ Article 7. That way the same sum is not claimed twice. An advocate’s fees for going to court, including for an application for a court order, are litigation costs: they are decided in the case in which they were incurred (Supreme Court of Lithuania, ruling of 29 March 2016 in civil case No 3K-3-174-701/2016).

If the debtor pays only part, the payment goes first to the creditor’s costs of making the demand for performance, unless the parties agreed otherwise (Article 6.54(1) of the Civil Code (CK)).

Enforcement costs at the bailiff

When a bailiff enforces the judgment, enforcement costs arise. They consist of the costs of administering the enforcement case, the costs paid to third parties for their services in that case, and the bailiff’s fee (CPK Article 609(1)). Their amounts and the procedure for calculating and paying them are set by the Government (CPK Article 609(3)).

• Who pays at the start. The enforcing creditor pays the costs of administering the enforcement case and, in cases set by the Government, the costs paid to third parties and the bailiff’s fee (CPK Article 610(1)).
• Who they are recovered from. Enforcement costs are recovered from the debtor (CPK Article 610(1)), in the same enforcement case in which they were calculated (CPK Article 611(1)). The Government may set exceptions on paying enforcement costs (CPK Article 610(2)).
• How the debtor learns of them. The bailiff sends the calculation of enforcement costs to the debtor together with the procedural documents by which the sums are recovered (CPK Article 611(2)). The calculation can be challenged in the manner set by the CPK (CPK Article 611(3)).

What the bailiff does to find the debtor’s assets is covered in Finding a debtor’s assets and income in Lithuania: you vs the bailiff.

More on debt recovery

• Debt recovery in court: service page
• Interest and late-payment penalties in Lithuania: what the law allows
• Writ of execution in Lithuania: how to obtain it and send it to a bailiff
• Court order, court fee and bailiff in Lithuania: what happens next

How to start

Send us the contract, the unpaid invoices, your correspondence with the debtor and the documents for costs you have already incurred. We will tell you which costs you can ask to be awarded and how to support them.

Phone +370 5 212 1506, email info@linden.lt

More about this service: debt recovery in court.