First hearing dispute resolution appointment meaning

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), with the President of the Family Division’s approval, now replaces and supersedes: Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy cases allocated to a High Court judge (1 February 2016) Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy hearings in the Financial Remedies Court below High Court judge level (11 January 2022) Financial Remedies Court Primary Principles (11 January 2022) Notice from the Financial Remedies Court: electronic bundles (19 April 2022) Allocation of financial remedies cases to High Court judge level (21 May 2024) This document is being updated to reflect those changes. See News Analysis: Financial Remedies Guide consolidates existing guidance and efficiency statements. The flowchart summarises the path from first appointment to the financial dispute resolution hearing (FDR) under the standard procedure, covering...

GH v GH [2024] EWHC 2547 (Fam) What are the practical implications of this case? Mr Justice Peel stated that the financial dispute resolution hearing (FDR) — covering the increasingly favoured private FDR — is a fundamental step in the court process. It is treated as an essential part of that process. Dispensing with an FDR will be exceptionally rare, save perhaps where a party has entirely failed to engage, or in other similarly narrow circumstances. Whilst other scenarios might be advanced to move from the first appointment straight to a final hearing without an FDR, such instances will be uncommon in the extreme, genuinely very few and far between... What was the background? What was the background?...

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...

Stop Press: On 31 March 2026, Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division, published consolidated guidance on allocation and gatekeeping in children proceedings before the Family Court, to take effect on 5 May 2026. This supplants the 2014 public and private law guidance, creating a single scheme for allocation across all children cases. It codifies the function of gatekeeping teams, maps allocation choices to contemporary procedural routes (including Child Focused Courts), and reaffirms the fundamentals of judicial continuity, proportionality, and the efficient deployment of judicial resources; see News Analysis: Consolidated allocation and gatekeeping guidance for children proceedings issued. This Practice Note is being revised to incorporate the President’s guidance. It sets out how to seek an order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989)—namely a child arrangements order (CAO), a specific issue order, or a prohibited steps order—and provides direction on the requirement to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM)...

Accelerated first appointment procedure This Practice Note reviews the accelerated first appointment route described in the Financial remedies guide (March 2026) (the FRG). It explains when it may properly be invoked, the compliance steps required to follow the procedure, the way an application is ultimately decided, and the circumstances in which it is not available for use. It further covers preparing an agreed directions order, use of the financial remedies online platform, and provision for a private financial dispute resolution appointment. In the Financial Remedies Court, first appointments may appropriately be managed by an accelerated process (distinct from the fast‑track procedure and the express financial remedy procedure pilot). Parties at every judicial tier are ‘encouraged’ to settle directions by consent in accordance with this model, thereby dispensing with the attendance of parties and legal representatives at the first appointment hearing. The scheme originated in the Primary Principles document issued with the Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy hearings in the Financial Remedies Court below High Court judge...