ANCILLARY RELIEF FACTSHEET
When a couple divorce, a financial settlement can be achieved either by negotiation and
agreement, without applying to Court, or by an application to Court and Court order.
Many couples reach an agreement with regard to the finances following negotiation and
financial disclosure between solicitors. However in some cases, for a variety of reasons,
it is necessary to make an application to Court for the Court’s involvement in reaching a
financial settlement. The legal term for a financial settlement is “ancillary relief”.
The person who applies for ancillary relief is called the Applicant and the other spouse is
the Respondent. If you are applying to Court, then your solicitor will file a Form A on
your behalf which indicates the type of financial relief that you are seeking.
The Court will list a first appointment between 12 and 14 weeks from the date of filing
Form A. The Court will set dates for exchanging sworn statements of financial
circumstances which is in Form E. Your solicitor must file no less than 14 days before
the first appointment a concise statement of the issues between you and your spouse,
and a chronology. They must also file questionnaires which include any requests for
additional documents which may be required.
Your solicitor will need information from you to enable them to prepare the Form E. That
information includes the following:-
• Details of all bank, building society and National Savings accounts, together with
PEPS, TESSA’s and ISA’s. Copy bank statements for each account are required for
the last 12 months.
• A copy of any property valuation that has been obtained in the past 6 months.
• A copy of the most recent mortgage statement.
• Your most recent P60 and your three most recent pay slips.
• A summary of any liabilities including debts etc.
• Pension information which your solicitor will need to obtain on your behalf.
The first appointment
Both parties must attend the first appointment. The object of the first appointment is to
define the issues and deal with the questionnaires and lists of documents. At the first
appointment, the District Judge will decide which additional questions must be answered
and what documents requested must be produced. Directions will be given by the
Judge.
In the vast majority of cases, the Judge will fix a date for the Financial Dispute
Resolution hearing (FDR). If there has been full financial disclosure by the time of the
first appointment and both parties are in a position to negotiate, it is possible that the
