Also on this page: interim hearings, the express procedure for cases under £250,000 at the pilot courts, Schedule 1 claims for a child and where a nuptial agreement fits.
This page describes a financial remedy case on divorce or dissolution. A claim for a child under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, by a married or an unmarried parent, follows the same hearings; the differences are set out below. Most cases have two hearings, sometimes three. Each one has its own purpose, its own paperwork and its own deadlines, which run from the hearing date backwards. Missing a deadline rarely ends a case, but it hands the other side the initiative and can cost you money.
Before the first hearing
The case starts when Form A is issued. The court then fixes the first appointment, usually 12 to 16 weeks ahead. The deadlines below all count back from that date.
What has to happen and when
Before Form AAttend a MIAM (a meeting with a mediator) unless an exemption applies. The mediator signs section 4 of Form A, or you claim the exemption on the form.
Form AFile it at your local financial remedy court with the fee (£321, or £62 for an agreed order); there is no online route for people without a solicitor. The court sends it to the other party and sets the first appointment.
35 days beforeBoth parties exchange Form E, each with the documents in its schedule and file it with the court. The exchange is simultaneous: you do not get to see theirs first.
14 days beforeEach party files and serves: a concise statement of issues, a chronology, a questionnaire on the other party's Form E (or a statement that none is needed) and Form G saying whether the first appointment can be used as an FDR. Form H (your costs so far) is filed too.
By 11:00 the working day beforeThe applicant files the agreed ES1 (summary of the case) and ES2 (schedule of assets), position statements and the bundle if there is one.
Form E is a statement of your finances verified by a statement of truth. Leaving something out, or guessing a figure you could have checked, is the mistake the court forgives least. If a figure is not yet known, say so and say when it will be.
The first appointment
A short hearing, usually 30 to 45 minutes and often by video, before a district judge. It is not about who is right. Its job is to work out what the case needs before it can be settled or decided: which valuations, which questions must be answered, whether an expert is needed and when the FDR will be.
What happens in the room
- The judge will have read the ES1, ES2 and position statements. Do not expect to read them aloud.
- Each party says, briefly, what directions they ask for and why. Where the two draft orders agree, the judge simply makes them.
- The judge goes through the questionnaires and strikes out questions that are not necessary or proportionate. What survives must be answered, usually within 28 days.
- The judge decides on valuations (normally a single joint expert), any pension report, updating disclosure and lists the FDR with a time estimate.
- Costs so far are noted from the Forms H. If one side has run up costs out of proportion, the judge will say so.
What to take
- Your draft directions order, showing which directions are agreed and which are not.
- The questionnaire you served and a note of which of their questions you object to and why.
- Names and fees of any expert you propose, so the judge can make the order there and then.
- Your diary: the judge will fix dates.
If both parties tick "yes" on Form G, the court can treat the first appointment as the FDR and save a hearing. That only works where disclosure is complete and the figures are agreed; otherwise ask for a proper FDR.
Position statements for a first appointment are limited to six pages. Do not refer to any without prejudice offer at this hearing.
The FDR (financial dispute resolution appointment)
The hearing at which many cases settle. The judge does not decide anything. Having read the papers and heard both sides, the judge gives an indication: what order they would be likely to make if the case went to a final hearing. The parties then negotiate, often for the rest of the day, with the indication in mind.
Before the hearing
Replies and reportsReplies to questionnaires, the valuation and any pension report should all be in by now. If they are not, the FDR may be wasted.
7 days beforeThe applicant files all offers made by either side, including without prejudice ones. This is the one hearing where the judge sees them. An updated FM5 is filed only if the court directed one.
By 11:00 the working day beforeUpdated ES1 and ES2, each party's position statement (up to 12 pages) setting out their proposal, a net effects schedule showing what each party would have under it and Form H.
What happens in the room
- Each side sets out its proposal and the reasons for it. Keep to the figures and the needs; the judge has read the history.
- The judge gives an indication, sometimes in detail. Listen for the range the judge thinks is right, not just the headline.
- You then negotiate outside court. The judge expects you to come back with progress and will usually give more time.
- If terms are agreed, they are written up as heads of agreement and signed before you leave. A consent order follows.
- If not, the judge gives directions for a final hearing and takes no further part in the case.
Make a realistic offer before the FDR, in writing. The judge will want to know what has been offered and will have less patience with a party who has made none. An offer made at the FDR is privileged: it cannot be used against you at a final hearing.
A private FDR, where the parties jointly pay a retired judge or senior barrister to give the indication, follows the same pattern, usually with more time and an earlier date. If the other party agrees, it is often worth it.
The final hearing
A trial, usually one to three days, before a judge who has not seen the FDR. The parties give evidence on oath and are cross-examined. The judge decides the case by applying section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and makes the final order.
Before the hearing
Witness statementsEach party files a section 25 statement: their evidence on the matters the judge must weigh (the marriage, contributions, needs, earning capacity, health), limited to the facts, by the date in the directions order. The Financial Remedies Guide says it should not exceed 15 pages excluding exhibits. It is signed with a statement of truth and the documents relied on are exhibited.
21 days after the FDREach party files and serves open proposals.
14 days beforeThe applicant files an open statement of the orders sought; the respondent replies within 7 days. Form H1, the full costs statement, is filed by both.
By 11:00 the working day beforeFinal ES1 and ES2, position statements (up to 15 pages), chronology and a list of essential reading. The bundle, no more than 350 pages, is lodged by the applicant at least five working days before.
What happens in the room
- Opening: each side says in a few minutes what they ask for and why.
- Evidence: the applicant gives evidence first, confirms their statement and Form E and is cross-examined by the other party. The respondent gives evidence next, followed by any expert whose evidence is challenged.
- Closing: each side sums up. Keep to the section 25 factors: needs, resources, contributions, the children, the length of the marriage.
- Judgment, sometimes the same day, often in writing later. The judge then deals with costs.
Nothing from the FDR goes into the final hearing bundle: no without prejudice offers, no note of the judge's indication. Only open proposals.
The witness statement is evidence and the position statement is argument. Facts go in the statement, under a statement of truth; what you say those facts add up to goes in the position statement. A statement full of argument, or a position statement full of new facts, irritates the judge and helps the other side.
Cross-examining the other party is the part people dread. The judge will help you keep it to questions, not speeches. Prepare a short list of the points in their Form E or statement that you say are wrong and ask about those.
Interim hearings
Any application made during the case, on Form D11: maintenance pending suit, a legal services payment order, permission for an expert, an order that replies be given. Listed when needed (usually for an hour) and decided on the papers and short submissions rather than oral evidence.
The applicationForm D11 with a statement in support and the fee (£195, or £62 by consent or without notice). Served on the other party, who files a statement in reply by the date the court sets.
Before the hearingA position statement of up to eight pages, a schedule of your income and outgoings for a maintenance application and Form H.
The express procedure (pilot, to 2 April 2027)
At 34 courts in the north of England, from Birmingham northwards (Practice Direction 36ZH lists them: among them Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Preston, Wakefield, York and Stockport), a case started between 7 April 2025 and 2 April 2027 where the combined net assets excluding pensions are, or are likely to be, under £250,000 is dealt with under a faster "express" procedure. It does not apply to consent applications or to applications to vary. If your case is at one of those courts and under the threshold, the timetable is shorter and runs from the date the application is issued, not back from a hearing.
On issueThe court fixes two dates at once: a first hearing 16 to 20 weeks ahead (at least an hour) and a final hearing 26 to 30 weeks ahead (a day).
28 days after issueBoth parties exchange and file their Forms E, verified by a statement of truth.
14 days after thatEach party files and serves a questionnaire of no more than 4 pages and the parties try to agree valuations and mortgage capacities.
28 days after the questionnaireReplies, any expert report and up to three sets of property particulars.
21 days before the first hearingProposals for settlement, open or without prejudice.
14 days beforeA schedule of the disputed issues.
7 days beforeThe composite ES1, ES2 and chronology.
The first hearingUsed as an FDR unless there is good reason not to. If the case does not settle the court gives directions for the final hearing already listed and open proposals are exchanged within 7 days.
Either party can ask, with reasons and normally within 7 days of exchanging Forms E, for the case to be taken out of the express procedure and dealt with in the standard way; complex assets or income are the usual ground. The same RemedyReady documents are used; the dates are the only difference and the dates fixed by the court cannot be moved without permission.
The pilot is due to end on 2 April 2027 and may be extended or made permanent. If your court is in the list and your case was issued after that date, check Practice Direction 36ZH or ask the court which procedure applies.
Claims for a child under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989
Schedule 1 is the law under which a parent can claim financial provision for a child in the parent's own right, whether the parents are married, divorced or were never married. Married and divorced parents use it for the provision for a child that a divorce settlement does not or cannot deal with: a "top-up" of child maintenance above the Child Maintenance Service figure, school fees and other educational costs, the extra costs of a child's disability, or a home or lump sum for a child after the parents' own finances were settled. For parents who were never married to each other, who have no claims against each other for themselves, it is the only route. These claims follow the same path as a divorce case, with the same three hearings, the same deadlines counted back from each hearing and the same documents, with these differences.
The formsA claim for periodical payments only (a top-up, school fees, the costs of a disability) is made on Form A1 under the fast-track procedure; a claim that includes a lump sum or a property order is made on Form A. The financial statement is Form E1 in either case, not Form E. The fee is the same as for Form A.
Who can applyA parent (including a step-parent who was married to the other parent), a guardian or special guardian, or anyone named in a child arrangements order as a person the child lives with. A child over 18 in education or training can apply in their own right in some circumstances.
What the court can orderPeriodical payments and lump sums for the child and a settlement or transfer of property for the child's benefit. The usual shape is a home bought or held in trust for the child to live in with the parent who cares for them, which goes back to the paying parent when the child finishes full-time education, together with a lump sum for furnishing and a car and, where the paying parent's income allows, periodical payments and school fees. The home is not the carer's to keep.
Regular maintenanceDay-to-day child maintenance is normally fixed by the Child Maintenance Service, not the court. The court can only add to it ("top up") where the paying parent's gross income is above the CMS ceiling of £156,000 a year, or make orders the CMS cannot: school fees and other educational costs, the extra costs of a child's disability and cases where a parent lives abroad. If both parents agree, the court can make a maintenance order by consent.
What the judge weighsNot section 25 and not sharing: the checklist in paragraph 4 of Schedule 1. Each parent's income, earning capacity, property and resources now and in the foreseeable future; each parent's needs and responsibilities; the child's financial needs and resources; any disability; and how the child was being, or was expected to be, educated. The court starts with the child's housing need and moves on to the child's budget, which may include an allowance for the parent caring for the child.
CostsThe usual rule in divorce finance that each side pays their own costs does not apply. The judge starts with a clean sheet and can order the loser to pay, so a sensible written offer before the FDR matters even more.
If you are divorcing and the financial remedy case is still open, ask for the children's provision within it: the court can make the same orders for the children under section 25 alongside the orders for you. A Schedule 1 claim stands on its own, before, during or after a divorce, for what the divorce case does not cover: a top-up of maintenance once the CMS figure is known, school fees and other educational costs, or a child's needs that have changed since the final order.
Where a nuptial agreement fits
A pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement does not take the case out of the court's hands. The judge still decides under section 25 and the agreement is one of the circumstances the judge must weigh: an important one, often decisive, but not binding. Since Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42 the court gives effect to an agreement that each party entered into freely, with a full appreciation of what it meant, unless in the circumstances at the time of the divorce it would not be fair to hold them to it. An agreement that leaves one party, or the children, without their needs met will not be followed on that point, however carefully it was signed.
If there is an agreement, say so in your Form E and exhibit it; the first appointment will usually direct a short statement from each party on how it was made and whether it should be upheld. The party wanting to depart from the agreement has to show why it would be unfair to hold them to it.
Privacy and reporting
Financial remedy hearings are held in private: members of the public cannot attend. Accredited journalists and legal bloggers can and under a transparency order the judge may allow them to report what happens so long as you, your children and your financial details are not identified, which is how the anonymised judgments on the courts' website come about. The Family Procedure Rules now provide (rule 9.47, from 20 July 2026) for a practice direction on the court's permission to communicate information from financial remedy cases. If a reporter is present, the judge will say so at the start; if you have a particular concern, for instance a risk to safety, raise it then and ask for the order to be tightened.
If you agree at any stage
You can settle at any point, before or between hearings. The agreement is written up as a consent order in the standard form, signed by both of you and lodged with Form D81 and, if a pension is shared, the Form P1 annex. A judge approves it on paper and the hearings fall away. An agreement that is not made into an order does not end your financial claims and cannot be enforced as a court order.