What to expect if you are in the express financial remedy pilot

Overview

The express financial remedy pilot will aim to resolve contested financial remedy cases quicker, by having a maximum of 2 hearings instead of 3.

Your case may be eligible for this pilot if yours and the other parties’ total combined net assets are worth less than £250,000. This does not include:

• liabilities
• mortgages
• pension rights
• Pension Protection Fund compensation entitlement

You will be automatically entered into the pilot if:

• you tell us in form A that yours and the other parties’ combined net assets are estimated to be £250,000 or less
• you complete form A between 7 April 2025 and 32 April 20262027
• your case is allocated to a financial remedy court taking part in the pilot

Courts taking part in the pilot

Cheshire and Merseyside

• Birkenhead
• Chester
• Crewe
• Liverpool
• St Helens

Cleveland, Newcastle and Durham

• Darlington
• Durham
• Gateshead
• Middlesborough
• Newcastle Upon Tyne
• North Shields
• South Shields
• Sunderland

Greater Manchester

• Manchester
• Wigan
• Stockport

Lancashire and Cumbria

• Barrow in Furness
• Blackburn
• Blackpool
• Carlisle
• Lancaster
• Leyland
• Preston
• Reedley
• West Cumbria

North and West Yorkshire

• Bradford
• Harrogate
• Huddersfield
• Leeds
• Scarborough
• Skipton
• Wakefield
• York

West Midlands

• Birmingham

Before the first hearing

The court will send you and the respondent a notice of the first hearing (form C). The first hearing will be a financial dispute resolution hearing.

The notice will tell you:

• when and where the hearing will take place
• what documents you must send to the court before the hearing

The hearing will take place between 16 to 20 weeks after form A has been accepted by the court. The hearing will take at least one hour, but you and the respondent will need to be available at court for the full day. This is because it can sometimes take up to a full day for the court to finalise the hearing.

What to expect at the first hearing

The judge will:

• review the documents that you and the respondent have provided
• encourage you both to reach an agreement
• give the likely outcome of the case

If you reach an agreement

If you and the respondent agree a financial settlement, the judge will make a record of your agreement. You’ll be expected to apply for a consent order for the judge to approve.

It costs £53 to apply for a consent order. You can either apply at the hearing, or after the hearing by post.

A consent order is a type of financial order that makes your agreement legally binding. This means that:

• the agreement can be enforced by the court if there are any issues
• you and the respondent cannot make any other claims against each other’s finances after your marriage or civil partnership has ended

Read more about how to apply for a consent order.

If you have reached an agreement, you will not need to attend the final hearing.

If you do not reach an agreement

The court will list your case for a final hearing.

The judge will tell you how to prepare for the final hearing.

Before the final hearing

You and the respondent will need to draft and exchange open proposals within 7 days of the first hearing. An open proposal is a document that tells the judge what financial settlement you are prepared to agree with the respondent.

Before the final hearing, the judge can:

• ask you for more information about your open proposal
• give you instructions that you must follow before the final hearing

If you would like to get legal advice to help you prepare for the final hearing, you can read more about legal advice in court.

What to expect at the final hearing

The final hearing will take place between 26 to 30 weeks after form A has been accepted by the court. The hearing will typically last one day.

The judge will decide the outcome of your financial application and make a final order. The order is a legal document that confirms the court’s decision.

You can read more about how the court makes its decision.

Apply to leave the pilot

If you have completed form A and you or the respondent think that your case should not be part of the pilot, you can apply to leave the pilot. You’ll need to complete form D11 to ask the court to remove your case from the pilot.

If the court agrees that your case is no longer suitable, the court will:

• remove your case from the pilot
• send you a new timetable for your case including a new date for a first hearing