Peter Hilton and Natasha Hood, in our Family Law team, look at changes which aim to speed up and standardise financial remedy proceedings.
Whilst many parties may not immediately appreciate the relevance to them, on 11 January 2022 a Statement on the Efficient Conduct of Financial Remedy Proceedings was issued by Mr Justice Mostyn, His Honour Judge Hessby the Financial Remedies Court following separate recommendations made by and His Honour Judge Stuart Farquhar and The Rt Hon Lord Justice Baker.
Financial remedy proceedings, which will normally result in a financial remedy order, aim to settle a financial dispute between divorcing couples in Court whereby they have been otherwise unable to resolve things.
The Efficiency Statement aims to speed up and standardise financial remedy proceedings by requiring:
- Allocation questions to be completed when issuing financial proceedings to ensure your case is dealt with by the right level of Judge and Court;
- Parties to prepare a new joint standard schedule of assets, setting out all assets and liabilities in the case and where there are disputes over values. The schedule will be updated before each hearing.
- New information to be gathered before your first hearing:
- A Joint valuation of the family home
- Property particulars of suitable properties for you and your spouse to live in at the conclusion of proceedings;
- Page limits on financial questionnaires
- You will also need to serve a new case summary the day before your first hearing. This will ensure any disputed facts are brought to the courts attention. This case summary will be updated before every subsequent hearing.
- There is also a pilot scheme being conducted for a new fast track procedure where parties are seeking to vary Orders or maintenance provisions.
Do the changes apply to me?
All of these changes are effective from 11 January 2022 so anyone involved in an upcoming hearing will need to ensure compliance with the updated requirements. Failure to do so may mean that the Judge decides to postpone the hearing. Whilst the new requirements may lead to an increase in costs at an early stage in proceedings, the information provided at the outset is designed to encourage parties to pro-actively negotiate and thus reduce costs overall.
What if you have a solicitor but the other party doesn’t?
When acting against a litigant in person it may take your solicitor longer to prepare the required documents. Standardised information is being prepared for solicitors to send out to litigants in person, with the aim to reduce legal costs, but in the meantime the requirement to progress these points remain and it is important that you comply with the obligations.
What if you are a litigant in person?
Legal advice is strongly encouraged when it comes to dividing finances on divorce, particularly given the potential capital, income, maintenance and pension implications.
If neither party is represented you will still be required to complete the aforementioned documents. If you do not, you may be penalised by the court. If you are unsure what is required as a result of this latest guidance, one of our expert Family team will be in a position to advise you.
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.
