Financial remedy proceedings are the court process in England and Wales by which a spouse or civil partner asks the Family Court to decide how money, property and pensions are divided on divorce or dissolution when the couple cannot agree. The application is made on Form A, is normally preceded by a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, and follows the standard procedure in Part 9 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010: a First Appointment fixed between 12 and 16 weeks after issue, a Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) appointment at which a judge gives a without-prejudice indication, and, if no settlement is reached, a final hearing.[1][2] The cases are heard in the Financial Remedies Court, a specialist structure within the Family Court that became permanent in February 2021 and is now governed day to day by the Financial Remedies Guide 2026.[3][4]
The application fee is £321, or £62 where the parties file an agreed consent order, under the July 2026 edition of HMCTS fee list EX50.[5] Each party must exchange a sworn Form E financial statement not less than 35 days before the First Appointment, and the general rule on costs is that each side pays its own, subject to the court’s power to penalise litigation misconduct and, since April 2024, an unreasonable failure to attend a MIAM or non-court dispute resolution.[1][6] In January to March 2026 the Family Court received 12,646 financial remedy applications, 73 per cent of them uncontested.[7] This article describes the procedure; the law the court applies is on Divorce Law Wiki.
Definition and scope
“Financial remedy” is the collective term used by the Family Procedure Rules for the orders a court can make about money and property at the end of a marriage or civil partnership and in certain related proceedings: periodical payments, lump sums, property adjustment, pension sharing and pension attachment orders under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and Schedule 5 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004, together with financial provision for children under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, orders after an overseas divorce under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, and maintenance under the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978.[1] Until April 2011 the same proceedings were known as “ancillary relief”, because they were ancillary to the divorce suit; the rules now treat them as a distinct application with its own case number and timetable.[1]
The Financial Remedies Guide 2026 confirms that the specialist court deals with “all applications which fall within the definition of ‘financial order’ and ‘financial remedy'”, including applications to enforce or vary earlier orders.[4] The great majority of financial remedy applications are not contested at all: they are applications for the court to approve a consent order agreed between the parties, which the court considers on paper and which follow a separate and shorter route described at the end of this article.[7][1]
The court decides a contested application by applying section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, giving “first consideration” to the welfare of any minor child of the family and then weighing the parties’ resources, needs, standard of living, ages, contributions and the other listed factors.[8] The substantive principles, including the sharing of matrimonial property and the decision of the Supreme Court in Standish v Standish [2025] UKSC 26, are explained on financial settlement on divorce and Family Law Wiki; this page is concerned with how a contested case moves through the court.
Legal basis
The procedure is governed by Part 9 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, which applies in its current form to applications issued on or after 6 April 2022.[1] Chapter 4 of Part 9 sets out the “standard procedure” of First Appointment, FDR appointment and final hearing that applies to most applications, and Chapter 5 the “fast-track procedure” for applications for periodical payments alone and for variation of such orders.[1] Practice Direction 9A supplements the rules and annexes the Pre-application protocol, which sets out what the court expects the parties to have done before issuing.[9]
Rule 28.3 of the Family Procedure Rules governs costs in financial remedy proceedings, and rule 9.17 and paragraph 6 of Practice Direction 9A protect the confidentiality of the FDR appointment.[6][9] Below the level of the rules sits the Financial Remedies Guide 2026, issued on 13 March 2026 by Mr Justice Peel and His Honour Judge Hess with the authority of the President of the Family Division, which merges and replaces the 2016 High Court efficiency statement and the January 2022 efficiency statement for cases below High Court level and is described by its authors as “the essential document for all litigants and practitioners”.[10][4][11] The MIAM pre-condition derives from section 10 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and Part 3 of the Rules; see non-court dispute resolution and FPR Part 3.
The Financial Remedies Court
The Financial Remedies Court (FRC) is not a separate court but, in the words of the Guide, “a subsidiary structure within the family court” whose judges are ticketed to hear financial cases.[4] It was piloted from 2018, beginning in the West Midlands centred on Birmingham, and extended in a second phase announced by Sir James Munby on 27 July 2018 to the East Midlands, London, Cheshire and Merseyside, the North East and Wales.[12] On 24 February 2021 it was declared “an established and permanent part of the Family Court”, and by mid-2022 it operated through eighteen regional zones, each with a lead judge responsible for allocation.[3] Its national lead judge is Mr Justice Peel, with His Honour Judge Hess as deputy.[10]
Allocation within the FRC depends on complexity. The Guide reserves High Court judge level for cases in which net assets “exceed £20m” or net earned annual income “exceeds £1m”, or which are otherwise so complex that allocation to that level is proportionate, and lists factors that point towards a circuit rather than a district judge, including allegations of non-disclosure, offshore assets, trusts, corporate entities needing expert valuation and serious arguments about non-matrimonial property or conduct.[4] The Guide also requires cases to be allocated to a named judge at the earliest opportunity, so that the same judge conducts the First Appointment and, where possible, the final hearing.[4]
Before the application: MIAM and the pre-application protocol
A prospective applicant must attend a MIAM before issuing, unless an exemption in rule 3.8 applies; the Pre-application protocol restates the rule and adds that prospective respondents “are expected to attend a MIAM before proceedings are started, unless there is a good reason why they should not do so”.[9] Since the protocol was revised the court also expects, before proceedings start, that the parties will “have attended at least one form of non-court dispute resolution, unless there are safety concerns or there is another good reason not to do so”, and a party who declines should give written reasons.[9] Mediation of finances, in which the parties produce an open financial statement and a memorandum that can be converted into a consent order, is described on financial mediation.
The protocol encourages voluntary financial disclosure before issue, and where it is given it must be “full and honest disclosure to the other party of facts, information and documents which are material”.[9] It stresses proportionality: “It is not acceptable for the costs of any case to be disproportionate to the financial value of the subject matter of the dispute.”[9] Paragraph 25 warns that when the court considers costs it will take into account open pre-application offers, whether a party attended a MIAM, the parties’ FM5 statements, the timing of disclosure and any failure without good reason to attend non-court dispute resolution.[9]
The application and allocation
The application is made on Form A, “Notice of intention to proceed with an application for a financial order”, a 20-page form last revised in July 2026 which contains the MIAM confirmation section and, since April 2024, provision for filing evidence in support of a MIAM exemption.[2] It is filed in the Family Court dealing with the divorce or dissolution, ordinarily online through the same digital service, and the fee is £321.[1][5] GOV.UK advises that it is “usually simpler to apply after you have your conditional order” and before the final order, because a final order made before financial claims are resolved can affect entitlement to a pension share and, in some cases, to widow’s or widower’s benefits.[13] The form itself is described on Form A.
On issue, rule 9.12 requires the court to “fix a first appointment not less than 12 weeks and not more than 16 weeks after the date of the filing of the application”, and within four days a court officer serves the respondent and notifies both parties of the date, unless the applicant elects to serve.[1] Within seven days of being notified of the First Appointment date, a party with pension rights must ask each pension arrangement for the valuation information prescribed by the Pensions on Divorce etc (Provision of Information) Regulations 2000 and pass it to the other party within seven days of receiving it.[14] The court considers at the same time whether the case belongs on the standard or fast track: under rule 9.18A an applicant who wants the standard procedure for a fast-track application must ask for it with the application, the respondent has seven days from service to respond, and the court decides “without notice to the parties and before the first hearing”.[1]
The First Appointment
Not less than 35 days before the First Appointment “both parties must simultaneously exchange with each other and file with the court a financial statement” in Form E, a 30-page sworn document setting out property, savings, pensions, debts, income and needs, with the supporting documents the form specifies.[1][15] Not less than 14 days before the hearing each party files a concise statement of issues, a chronology, a questionnaire seeking further information and documents by reference to the statement of issues, and a notice in Form G stating whether the First Appointment can be used as an FDR.[1] Under the Financial Remedies Guide questionnaires are “limited to four pages of A4 in length”, and the parties must also produce two composite documents, the case summary ES1 and the asset and income schedule ES2, together with their Form FM5 statements, by 11:00 on the working day before the hearing.[4]
Rule 9.15 provides that the First Appointment “must be conducted with the objective of defining the issues and saving costs”.[1] The judge decides which questions in each questionnaire must be answered, gives directions for valuations and any expert evidence, considers whether the case should be transferred and, unless there are exceptional reasons or the hearing has itself been used for the purpose, “must direct that the case be referred to a FDR appointment”.[1] Each party files a costs estimate in Form H before every hearing.[1] The Guide gives a time estimate of 45 to 60 minutes at district and circuit judge level.[4]
Where the parties can agree directions in advance, the Guide’s Annex 2 provides an accelerated First Appointment procedure: the Forms E, ES1, ES2, FM5 and questionnaires are uploaded at least seven days before the listed date with a draft agreed order, which a judge may approve without anyone attending.[4] After the First Appointment neither party may seek further documents or information without the court’s permission, and the answers to the approved questionnaire are exchanged on the timetable the judge sets.[1]
The FDR appointment
The Financial Dispute Resolution appointment is the central settlement stage. Rule 9.17 provides that it “must be treated as a meeting held for the purposes of discussion and negotiation”.[1] Not less than seven days beforehand the applicant files “details of all offers and proposals, and responses to them”, so that the judge sees the parties’ without-prejudice positions.[1] Having heard short submissions the judge gives an indication of the likely outcome at a final hearing, and the parties then negotiate at court, usually attending an hour before the listed time to begin.[4] The judge who conducts the FDR “must have no further involvement with the application, other than to conduct any further FDR appointment or to make a consent order”.[1]
Practice Direction 9A explains why the appointment is privileged: “Non-disclosure of the content of such meetings is vital and is an essential prerequisite for fruitful discussion directed to the settlement of the dispute between the parties”, and evidence of anything said or admitted at the FDR is inadmissible except at the trial of a person for an offence committed at the appointment or in the exceptional circumstances identified in Re D.[9] The offers filed for the FDR are returned to the parties and removed from the court file.[1] Before the hearing the parties file updated ES1 and ES2 documents and position statements, which the Guide limits to 12 pages at district and circuit judge level and 15 pages before a High Court judge.[4]
Private FDRs
The parties may instead pay a retired judge, barrister or solicitor to conduct a private FDR, which follows the same format on a date of their choosing. The Guide states that FRC judges “will encourage parties to explore the available possibilities”, and where a private FDR is arranged the court dispenses with the in-court FDR and lists “a directions appointment or mention hearing which may be vacated in the event an agreement is reached”.[4] Afterwards “the parties shall provide an explanation to the next FRC judge” of when it took place and who conducted it, without revealing the without-prejudice positions.[4] A private FDR is a form of non-court dispute resolution within the definition in rule 2.3; see FPR Part 3.
Open proposals and the final hearing
If the FDR does not produce an agreement the court gives directions for trial, typically for narrative statements addressing the section 25 factors, which the Guide says should not “exceed 15 pages in length (excluding exhibits)”, and for any further expert evidence.[4] Rule 9.27A then requires each party to file and serve an open proposal for settlement “within 21 days after the date of the FDR appointment”, or, where there has been no FDR, not less than 42 days before the final hearing.[1] Rule 9.28 adds a second round: the applicant files an open statement of the orders sought not less than 14 days before the final hearing and the respondent replies within seven days of service.[1] Open proposals matter because they are the only offers the court may see when deciding costs.[6]
The final hearing is conducted by a different judge from the FDR. Each party gives oral evidence and is cross-examined, experts may be called, and the judge delivers a judgment applying section 25 and makes the orders.[8][1] Position statements for the final hearing are limited by the Guide to 15 pages at district and circuit judge level and 20 pages before a High Court judge, excluding the composite documents, and the bundle must comply with Practice Direction 27A; see court bundle and position statement.[4] The general features of a contested final hearing are described on final hearing, and the judgment can be challenged only by way of appeal or, in the case of fraud, non-disclosure or a supervening event, an application to set aside under rule 9.9A.[1]
The fast-track procedure
Rule 9.9B directs a shorter procedure for applications in which “the financial remedy sought is only for an order for periodical payments”, for maintenance applications under the 1978 Act and the corresponding civil partnership provisions, and for applications to vary a periodical payments order, unless the variation sought is dismissal in return for a lump sum, property adjustment or pension sharing order.[1] On issue the court fixes a first hearing not less than six and not more than ten weeks ahead; the parties exchange financial statements within 21 days of issue; and under rule 9.20 the court should determine the application at that first hearing unless there is good reason not to.[1] The Guide confirms that the fast track applies only to “applications for an order for periodical payments alone” or variations of them, and that everything else follows the standard procedure.[4] Interim applications within the standard procedure, such as maintenance pending suit or a legal services payment order, are made under the Part 18 procedure.[1]
Costs
Rule 28.3(5) states the general rule “in financial remedy proceedings” that “the court will not make an order requiring one party to pay the costs of another party”.[6] Under rule 28.3(6) the court may nevertheless order costs “at any stage of the proceedings where it considers it appropriate to do so because of the conduct of a party”, and rule 28.3(7) lists the conduct in question: failure to comply with the rules or orders, open offers to settle, the reasonableness of allegations and the manner in which the case has been pursued and, since 29 April 2024, “any failure by a party, without good reason, to (i) attend a MIAM or (ii) attend non-court dispute resolution”.[6] Rule 28.3(8) confirms that only open offers are admissible on costs.[6]
The Guide restates the position and warns that a failure to make reasonable attempts to settle in open correspondence once the financial position is clear “may be met by an order for costs”.[4] In X v Y [2024] EWHC 538 (Fam), decided weeks before the 2024 amendments, Mrs Justice Knowles said that “the court will be active in considering whether non-court dispute resolution is suitable” and that an unreasonable refusal could justify departing from the no-order starting point.[16] Costs estimates in Form H are filed before each hearing and a full Form H1 before the final hearing, so that the judge can see what each party has spent.[1]
Fees and timescales
| Step | Rule or source | Timing or amount |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee, Form A (other than by consent) | EX50, fee 5.4, from 13 July 2026 | £321[5] |
| Application for a consent order | EX50, fee 5.1 | £62[5] |
| First Appointment fixed | FPR 9.12 | 12 to 16 weeks after filing[1] |
| Form E exchanged and filed | FPR 9.14 | Not less than 35 days before the First Appointment[1] |
| Statement of issues, chronology, questionnaire, Form G | FPR 9.14 | Not less than 14 days before the First Appointment[1] |
| ES1, ES2, FM5 and position statements | Financial Remedies Guide 2026 | By 11:00 on the working day before each hearing[4] |
| Offers and proposals filed for the FDR | FPR 9.17 | Not less than 7 days before the FDR[1] |
| Open proposals after an unsuccessful FDR | FPR 9.27A | Within 21 days after the FDR[1] |
| Open statement before final hearing | FPR 9.28 | Applicant 14 days before; respondent within 7 days of service[1] |
| Fast-track first hearing | FPR 9.18 | 6 to 10 weeks after filing[1] |
A person on a low income or certain benefits may apply for Help with Fees on form EX160 or online.[17] The Ministry of Justice does not publish an average duration for contested financial remedy cases in its quarterly bulletin.[7] Because the First Appointment cannot be listed earlier than 12 weeks after issue and the FDR and final hearing depend on local listing, a fully contested case commonly takes a year or more from Form A to final order, and the court’s guidance is directed at reducing that period through early disclosure, agreed composite documents and settlement at or before the FDR.[4] Fees across the court are kept on family court fees.
The consent order alternative
Where the parties agree terms, whether through solicitors, mediation or direct negotiation, rule 9.26 allows them to apply for a consent order without the standard procedure. They file two copies of the draft order, one endorsed with the respondent’s agreement, together with a statement of information for each party in Form D81 and a Form A marked as an application by consent.[1][18] The fee is £62, there is “usually no court hearing”, and the judge approves the order if satisfied that it is fair.[19][5] An application for a consent order is outside the MIAM requirement.[9]
The same route is used to end proceedings that settle at any stage, including at the FDR, and it accounts for the large majority of financial remedy disposals.[7] The consent order itself, the clean break, and the court’s scrutiny of agreed terms are covered on consent order; a step-by-step filing guide is published by ConsentOrder.org.uk, an information site operated by Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki.[20]
Statistics
| Measure | January to March 2026 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Financial remedy applications | 12,646 | Up 11 per cent on the same quarter in 2025[7] |
| Applications that were uncontested (consent) | 73 per cent | Contested applications 27 per cent[7] |
| Financial remedy disposal events | 12,764 | Up 12 per cent[7] |
| Contested application fee | £321 | EX50, 13 July 2026[5] |
| Consent order fee | £62 | EX50, 13 July 2026[5] |
The Ministry of Justice counts applications and disposal events rather than cases, and does not publish separate figures for FDR settlement rates or for the time taken by contested cases.[7] The quarterly bulletin is published on GOV.UK; the next edition, covering April to June 2026, is due in late September 2026.
History
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| 6 April 2011 | The Family Procedure Rules 2010 came into force, renaming ancillary relief as financial remedy and consolidating the procedure in Part 9[1] |
| 2018 | The Financial Remedies Court pilot began in the West Midlands; a second phase covering the East Midlands, London, Cheshire and Merseyside, the North East and Wales was announced on 27 July 2018[12] |
| 24 February 2021 | The FRC was declared an established and permanent part of the Family Court[3] |
| 12 January 2022 | The Efficiency Statement for cases below High Court judge level, with the ES1 and ES2 templates, was issued following the Farquhar Committee report of September 2021[11] |
| 6 April 2022 | Part 9 was recast, applying to applications issued on or after that date, with the fast-track and standard procedures and rule 9.27A on open proposals[1] |
| 29 April 2024 | Rule 28.3(7)(aa) made failure without good reason to attend a MIAM or non-court dispute resolution a costs factor; Form FM5 was introduced[6] |
| 13 March 2026 | The Financial Remedies Guide 2026 replaced the 2016 and 2022 efficiency statements[10] |
See also
References
- Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 9: Applications for a financial remedy. Ministry of Justice. Version applying to applications issued on or after 6 April 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Notice of intention to proceed with an application for a financial order: Form A. HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 21 July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Financial Remedies Court: overall structure of the Financial Remedies Court. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 4 July 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- The Financial Remedies Court of England and Wales: Financial Remedies Guide 2026. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 13 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Family court fees (EX50). HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 13 July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 28: Costs (rule 28.3). Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25: Matters to which court is to have regard in deciding how to exercise its powers. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Practice Direction 9A: Application for a financial remedy (with the Pre-application protocol annexed). Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Financial Remedies Guide 2026 (notice of issue). Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 13 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Notice from the Financial Remedies Court: Statement on the Efficient Conduct of Financial Remedy Hearings proceeding in the Financial Remedies Court below High Court Judge level. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 12 January 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- President’s Circular: Financial Remedies Court pilot, phase 2. Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division. 27 July 2018. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Money and property when you divorce or separate: get the court to decide. GOV.UK. updated 11 February 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 9.30: Duty of the party with pension rights. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Financial statement for a financial order: Form E. HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 23 January 2023. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- X v Y [2024] EWHC 538 (Fam). Find Case Law, The National Archives. 8 March 2024. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Get help paying court and tribunal fees. GOV.UK. updated 2 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Provide information about the parties’ financial situation to support your application for a consent order: Form D81. HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 16 July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Money and property when you divorce or separate: apply for a consent order. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- How to file a consent order. ConsentOrder.org.uk (Family Legal Ltd). Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Costs and payments. Mediate UK (Family Legal Ltd). Prices as displayed on 5 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Online clean break consent order. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Price £499 including VAT as displayed on 5 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
External links
This article is part of Family Court Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd. It is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.