Partner Tasha Bevan-Stewart, in our leading Family Law team, explains what a private FDR hearing is.
Family law can be full of jargon and abbreviations baffling to someone new to the legal aspects of separation or divorce. As family lawyers, we need to keep a glossary of terms at our fingertips but be mindful that our shorthand may not be familiar to all our clients. Part of our job is to help our clients ‘decode’ legal language.
The ‘private FDR’ is increasingly making an appearance in family law cases. FDR stands for ‘Financial Dispute Resolution’ and I explain further below.
Having dealt with two private FDR hearings recently, I thought the following explainer would be useful...
Financial proceedings
If married couples divorce, and can’t agree on how to settle their financial arrangements, either of them can apply to court for a decision. The same applies to civil partnerships. If one of the parties to a divorce decides to apply to court to resolve financial disputes, these are known as 'financial proceedings.'
Financial proceedings progress in accordance with a standard timetable, which typically involves 1, 2 or more court hearings, depending on whether your case settles along the way. The case can settle without ever proceeding to a hearing, if the parties reach an agreement first.
Financial proceedings usually run as follows (leaving out any unusual urgent or specific applications):
- Applicant attends an information meeting about mediation or tries to resolve financial dispute out of court
- Applicant files form at court if the financial dispute remains unresolved
- First court hearing scheduled and notice of the time and date issued to parties - including directions to complete financial statements (known as ‘Forms E’)
- First court hearing takes place (unless replaced by agreed directions which deal with case management issues and we proceed to the Second court hearing).
- If the case has still not settled, a Second Court hearing is scheduled. This is known as the FDR hearing – the acronym stands for Financial Dispute Resolution. An FDR is a court-managed negotiation session where the parties and their legal advisors are encouraged to work towards settling the case. This happens via the exchange of offers and with the assistance of the judge presiding who will comment on the merits of the case and how they might decide it if they were to hear the evidence. The judges’ observations are known as ‘indications’ and although they are non-binding on the parties, they can be extremely helpful in focussing minds when it comes to negotiating.
- Final Hearing (trial) – this takes place if the FDR is unsuccessful and the issues remain unresolved by the trial date. Parties give evidence and the Judge decides the final outcome of your case.
Why Private FDRs?
Increasingly, with delays to the court process and clients’ desire to have greater control over the timing of financial proceedings, couples are turning to private FDRs to resolve their financial disputes.
The ‘court-based FDR’ is replaced with a session held at a private venue (usually solicitors or barristers’ premises) and an expert in family law financial matters is instructed to act as the judge. Unlike in court FDRs, parties agree to use a private judge and pay their fee. Deciding on the venue, date and time can help parties feel more in control and lead to a greater sense of co-operation, even before the day of the private FDR.
Private FDRs ‘feel’ very different to a court hearing because they are more bespoke, comfortable for the parties and flexible. Complete privacy is ensured, unlike the experience of court waiting rooms, and the expertise of the private judge is yours for the day, not for 45 minutes or an hour at a court FDR.
The success rate of private FDRs is, unsurprisingly, very high. This means that at private FDR hearings, most couples can agree their terms in private and ask their lawyers to draft the order on the day. This can then be submitted to the Court for approval by a judge without the need for another hearing. Private FDRs have the certainty of ‘test running’ the agreed terms which means the court is likely to accept them. A couple can walk away from that session with the relief of having settled their case in a single day, and save the costs of an expensive and stressful trial.
Our specialist Family Law team can provide advice on all aspects of Family Law and divorce.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
