First Appointment meaning

STOP PRESS: The Financial Remedies Guide 2026 Published on 13 March 2026 by Mr Justice Peel and His Honour Judge Hess, and approved by the President of the Family Division, the Guide replaces and supersedes: efficiency statement for High Court judge cases (1 February 2016) efficiency statement below High Court judge level (11 January 2022) Financial Remedies Court Primary Principles (11 January 2022) Notice: electronic bundles (19 April 2022) Allocation of financial remedies cases to High Court judge level (21 May 2024) This document is being updated accordingly. The flowchart maps the steps when the accelerated first appointment procedure is available in the Financial Remedies Court within the Family Court. For practical guidance—including overviews, Practice Notes, precedents, guides, legislation, forms and further reading—see Financial provision—practice and procedure—overview or the related documents on the right-hand side of the flowchart; for all Lexis+ UK family flowcharts see Index of family flowcharts; for the accelerated route, see Accelerated first appointment...

Procedural Guide: Applications for Child Arrangements Orders under section 8 Children Act 1989 This Procedural Guide outlines the procedural steps for applying under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989) for a child arrangements order (CAO). It covers eligibility to apply, pre-action obligations including attendance at a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM), the court’s guiding principles, and provisions for non-court dispute resolution (NCDR). It also addresses service requirements and the criteria for without notice (ex parte) applications. Allocation, gatekeeping and safeguarding processes are explained, together with what may occur at the first hearing dispute resolution appointment (FHDRA) and the dispute resolution appointment (DRA), as well as the approach to fact-finding hearings, vulnerable witnesses and the final hearing. A CAO is one of the orders available to the court under ChA 1989, s 8. It is an order concerning: with whom a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact, and when a child is to live, spend time or...

STOP PRESS: The Financial Remedies Guide 2026, issued on 13 March 2026 by Mr Justice Peel (National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court) and His Honour Judge Hess (Deputy National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court), and approved by the President of the Family Division, replaces and supersedes the following: Statement on the efficient handling of financial remedy cases assigned to a High Court judge, whether sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice or in any other venue (1 February 2016) (the High Court judge level efficiency statement) Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy hearings in the Financial Remedies Court below High Court judge level (11 January 2022) (the below High Court judge level efficiency statement) Financial Remedies Court Primary Principles document (11 January 2022) Notice from the Financial Remedies Court on electronic bundles (19 April 2022) Allocation of financial remedies cases to High Court judge level (21 May 2024) This document is being updated...

In this issue: Key developments and horizon scanning Leasing property Environment, energy and buildings Statutory compliance Property development Transferring property Property taxes Property in Scotland Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New Q&As Key developments and horizon scanning Snapshot of key property developments to look out for in 2025 We deliver a concise overview of several significant property developments to watch for in 2025. See News Analysis: Snapshot of key property developments to look out for in 2025. Leasing property Electronic Communications Code and assignment of pre-28 December 2017 licence agreement AP Wireless II (UK) Ltd v ON Tower UK Ltd [2024] UKUT 429 (LC) was an appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) (the UT) from a First-tier Tribunal (FTT) decision concerning how the Electronic Communications Code (Code) should be interpreted. The central question was whether an assignee of a Code licence...

Bastholm and others v Peveril Securities (Dalton Park Retail) Ltd and others [2023] EWHC 438 (Ch) Background The dispute concerned a demand for overage under a Payment Deed connected to the creation of a large designer outlet and retail centre at Dalton Park, County Durham. The Deed identified the ‘Seller’ as five named individuals and set out a valuation process by expert determination, to be initiated by an application to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). In 2014, those five applied to RICS seeking the appointment of an expert to assess the value of development said to have occurred in 2002. By that time, one of the five had been adjudged bankrupt and later discharged, and his Trustee in Bankruptcy was not included in the approach to RICS. The first defendant, who owned the relevant land, contended that the application was ineffective because it was not made by the true ‘Seller’, as the bankrupt’s estate – including any choses in action – had vested in his Trustee...

In this issue: International Arbitration Investment treaty arbitration Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information International Arbitration Hong Kong—court orders stay of court proceedings in dispute involving non-signatory to arbitration agreement The Hong Kong Court of First Instance, in Techteryx Ltd v Legacy Trust Company Ltd, ordered a stay of Hong Kong proceedings in favour of arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). Her Ladyship, Madam Justice Mimmie Chan, found that the criteria for a stay under section 20 of the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) were fulfilled. On a prima facie assessment, there was a sufficient basis for the non-signatory defendant to invoke the arbitration agreements, relying on the doctrines of agency and equitable estoppel under Delaware law, which governed those agreements. For detailed commentary, refer to News Analysis: Hong Kong—court orders stay of court proceedings in dispute involving non-signatory to arbitration agreement (Techteryx Ltd v Legacy...

Introduction It is an unfortunate reality that, in many personal injury matters, particularly those involving the most catastrophic injuries, the injured person has lost or will lose the ability to manage their own affairs. In numerous instances, they also lack the capacity to appoint an attorney to act on their behalf or to set up a personal injury trust themselves. The involvement of the Court of Protection (COP) will usually be required in such situations. The court (either the COP or the court dealing with the personal injury claim) may need to determine whether to approve the creation of a personal injury trust or the appointment of a deputy. It should be emphasised that, even where an Enduring or Lasting Power of Attorney exists, the appointed attorney(s) do not have the authority to create a trust to hold any award without the court hearing the claim granting permission to establish a trust. Such permission would normally be recorded in a court order. Where the injured person has capacity to...

ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained . The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 (CR(C)A 2022) preserves and broadens the safeguards afforded to commercial tenants during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. It achieves this by ringfencing rent and service charge arrears built up while premises were mandated to shut, and by creating a statutory arbitration scheme through which sums can be written down or repayment postponed. A moratorium on landlord remedies also applies to shield tenants whilst arbitration is ongoing. Core provisions of CR(C)A 2022, together with the government’s Commercial rent code of practice following the COVID-19 pandemic (the Code), are outlined below. The government has additionally published statutory guidance on the Act’s terms. The window to commence arbitration has now closed, and with it the moratorium on landlord remedies where no reference was lodged. The moratorium endures for arrears that were referred in time (see Moratorium on landlord’s remedies). A Property Litigation Association survey reported very low take-up of the scheme, with markedly fewer...

Private children standard orders Practice Note This Practice Note outlines, and provides access to, private children standard orders issued by the standard orders group with the authority of the President of the Family Division, together with directions on issue and allocation, at the first hearing dispute resolution appointment (FHDRA) and dispute resolution appointment (DRA), plus case management and final orders. The orders encompass, among other areas, proceedings for child arrangements orders, specific issue and prohibited steps orders, parental responsibility, guardianship and special guardianship, enforcement of orders, and temporary leave to remove... On 17 May 2023, Mr Justice Peel, the judge in charge of standard orders, announced that, with the President’s authority and following a review and consultation, the standard orders were updated to reflect developments in law, practice and procedure and to secure consistency. See: LNB News 17/05/2023 88. On the same date, Peel J also released updated house rules to be read alongside the standard orders. The house rules set out: the content of...

[ Insert in para 6.1 of response form ET3: ] It is accepted that the Claimant is an agency worker with the First Respondent. It is accepted that she began an assignment with the Second Respondent on [ insert date ]...

Insert in para 8.2 of claim form ET1: Engaged by the First Respondent, a temporary work agency, the Claimant is an agency worker. He began assignment with the Second Respondent on [ insert date ]...

1 Introduction This letter serves as a joint instruction addressed to you, as an expert on financial remedy matters arising within divorce proceedings between [ client’s full name ] and [ spouse’s full name ], and is provided for that purpose herein. The instruction is made jointly by [ lead firm preparing letter ], representing [ client’s full name ], together with [ name and address of spouse’s solicitors ], [ telephone number and email of spouse’s solicitors ], acting for [ spouse’s full name ]; your opinion is to be provided independently of both parties at all material times. At the first appointment held on [ date of first appointment ], District Judge [ name ], sitting at the Family Court at [ location ], made the following order: [ insert exact wording from order ]. The parties have consented to your appointment on a joint basis as the single joint expert. The scope of your instructions is defined in the order dated [ date of first appointment...

When one company advances funds to another, the contractual provisions govern any restriction on repaying the loan before the ten-year period first contemplated. Should the lending company enter liquidation or administration, that circumstance, by itself, does not alter the contract’s terms. The office-holding insolvency practitioner should nevertheless review the agreement to determine whether it permits earlier repayment, or repayment on alternative terms, if the lending company goes into liquidation or administration. Although that may appear improbable, it remains possible, and the officeholder ought to explore every avenue to secure accelerated repayment of the borrowing. Absent an express clause to the contrary, the insolvency of the lender does not, of itself, accelerate the debt, and timing remains governed by the bargain. It would seem that the office-holding insolvency practitioner holds an appointment that must remain open for at least ten years before the loan can be discharged and a dividend distributed to creditors...

Personal service of a divorce petition It is inferred that this Q&A concerns personal service of a divorce petition, given the mention of the ‘petitioner’. As a starting point, a divorce petition is commonly served on the respondent by first class post. That said, Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 6.4 permits service of a divorce petition by other means, namely: personal service pursuant to FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, 6.7 alternative service providing delivery on the next business day under FPR 2010, PD 6A where FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, 6.11 applies (the respondent has a solicitor acting and the applicant has written notice that the solicitor is instructed to accept service of the application), service via document exchange (DX) See Practice Note: Service of applications for matrimonial and civil partnership orders within the jurisdiction...