THE FIRST DIRECTIONS APPOINTMENT (FDA)

This is the first of three court appointments, although one hopes to avoid the second and third to keep costs down. It is pretty boring. Typically it lasts 30 minutes, and the judge gives directions, which are usually agreed in advance.

“A Direction” means a court timetable, for things like valuing the matrimonial home unless it can be agreed, what each party’s mortgage capacity is and whether the parties need to be compelled to provide information in questionnaires previously served or produced at the hearing.

Sometimes the judge will go through the questionnaire line by line striking out unreasonable questions. For example a question might be “Identify all payments above £200” and the judge replaces the figure of £200 with £1,000 to make the information sought more proportionate.

A spouse, or lawyer, does not generally say much at the first appointment and with help from a specialist firm, it is often possible to attend without a lawyer again to keep costs down.

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