Final hearing

So FDR was today and unfortunately no agreement could be reached.
I am fuming as i was only send the position statement 10mins before hearing.
Ex barrister asked me if i will have representation at FH, i told her oh yes a half decent barrister will have a field day with your client.
Judge indicated 60/40 split towards me. (I am not sure if that
Was into the whole matrimonial pot or just house equity. ) felt nervous to ask
House equity is roughly 100k.
I offered 75/25 in my favour and judge took into account my housing needs as i have a child.
He agreed more than half of saving was taken from joint account and a bank statement should be included to for FH.

Also took into consideration the rolex after i explained i believe she has it , and agreed to include the receipt for it and how it was paid (bank statement)

Terry if i can ask , ex solicitor originally sent open offer, then sent bundle that had included that open offer.
Emailed me again 1 hour later with offer changed to without Prejudice within that bundle. ( i did not view bundle as i thought it was the same )
This only came my attention when her position statement said such, in which i was confused when they had sent me an open offer.

I brought this up, and their response said it was a mistake from the solicitors.
The judge indicated that its not the respondents fault and he mentioned it can be used at final hearing ?
If i have an open offer they sent me regardless if they changed it after can i bring it up ?
Can they change goal posts.

In conclusion i felt like i could of performed better when i put my opinion across in this hearing.
However i will take it as small win the 60/40 indication and take my chances with a half decent barrister at FH.


Lastly in your opinion from previous cases, how far off the mark can FDR indication be at final hearing ? I don’t believe the ex will ever get more than 40%
Do you think im being unreasonable david ?


( i now know why they sneaky tried to remove the open offer, statement of issues of the wife mentions costs but on open offer mention no order to costs )



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2025 10:09PM by Xh.p.

I have received draft order, does not mention anything on open offer
And says “cost” reserved.

What does this mean

'Costs reserved' means that the issue of who pays what costs is to be left to the final hearing.

As to any open offers whether that was to be included in the order depends entirely upon what the judge ordered on the day.

Well, the ex’s barrister was ordered to draft the order. I was sent the draft order and had no mention of the open offer that was originally sent.

My response was as follows.
“Would be appreciated if you can include the open offer that was sent to me will be visible at final hearing-
As i am sure you know.
Original open offer emailed to me.

+ 1st bundle included such original offer.
Then 1 hour later receive email that mentions ignore last email with bundle.
Without my knowledge changes to offer of no prejudice.

Would be greatly appreciated.”

Her response was as follows
“Dear Mr ****,
You have the letter and it will be included in the final hearing bundle , it does not need to be recited in the draft order,it's not what the judge said.
My instructing solicitors do not take issue with this; it can stand as an open offer and it is not retracted .”

This is incorrect ^

Now she can include what she wants in draft order and change wording around to suit her client.


Hopefully the judge does make notes of what was agreed and changes to suit what was discussed.

I believe she is going after costs and there was a reason why they tried to sneakily retract their open offer, as on open offer mentioned each party liable to their own costs.

I have made a calculated decision while the ex acted on emotion
, it is of my opinion i will get more than a 60/40 split in FH.
If i managed 60/40 on my own after their dirty tactics.
A half competent barrister will do much better in my opinion.

The 15% difference we were apart equals 15k.
It will cost her another £10k in legal fees + travelling back from canada.
And thats even if she manages to get her 40% as everything is on the line now. Included her spending £25k in the last 4 months from her form e disclosure.

Make it make sense

Like the barrister said, the judge did not order that mention be made of the open offer in the directions and so it is quite properly not included in the draft order. However, you have the barrister's letter to refer to when it comes to including the open offer in the final trial bundle.

The normal costs order in this type of case is that each side pays their own so if your ex is travelling from Canada and the difference between your two positions is £15K I really think this should be capable of being settled by agreement rather than needing to be determined by a judge at cosiderable cost to you both.

Hi terry,

Could you or anyone on this furom recommend any direct access barristers for my final hearing

Many thanks

Do remember that a barrister's role (at least in this type of case) is to represent a client in court NOT to attend to the paperwork which is presented to the court. It is a solicitor who normally deals with the latter. I say this because even the most gifted footballer can be handicapped by having to use a deflated ball. You do need to bear this in mind. A barrister is likely to be of only limited assistance in respect of the preparation of the paperwork a court needs.

Hi Terry,

I have found my barrister finally, i have a conference meeting with him in 2 weeks. I can not believe some barristers were quoted £10-12k for a one day hearing.

Can’t remember if i asked this, but the bundle that was at FDR will remain and additional documents get added to it ? Or does is it a brand new separate bundle for final hearing ?

I would like to add some stuff unto the bundle (example rolex receipt and my email communication with rolex store )
Does the other side need to agree ? What happens if they don’t agree ?

>>is it a brand new separate bundle for final hearing ?

It is usually, yes, because the basis of the two hearings is different although there is inevitably some overlap.

>>I would like to add some stuff unto the bundle (example rolex receipt and my email communication with rolex store )
Does the other side need to agree ? What happens if they don’t agree ?<<

Assuming it is the responsibility of the other side to prepare the bundle you should send them copies of all documents you want to include in good time because documents which have not been disclosed in good time cannot be relied upon in evidence without the permission of the court (which can't be taken for granted in the case of non-disclosure).

If there are any documents they refuse to include then you should prepare a separate bundle and index of those documents and provide them with a copy of that index and bundle. Then you will have to argue about whether they should be included before the judge on the day and you will no doubt receive advice on that from your barrister. If they do refuse to include any documents they will give reasons which you should take into account if you decide to press the issue because they may or may not have valid objections. For instance, they could legitimately object to the inclusion of without prejudice documents.

Terry, what is the likely hood of judge allowing add back into pot considering the ex has spent 80% of her cash savings since her form E.
She could argue moving abroad cost money but that was due to her own pleasure.

It is impossible to say without knowing the exact details. It depends upon such things as the amount involved, to what extent the money could properly be regarded as matrimonial, the reason it was spent, whether you have also spent some of the matrimonial assets, whether it is necessary to add such money back in in order to achieve fairness/meet reasonable needs etc.

How can i go about asking the other party what i want included in trial bundle ?
I am worried they will ignore my request

I want voluntary answers to questionnaire, court approved answers, included and former tenancy ( pretty much things that were included in FDR bundle)
Her credit card statements ( would these be allowed?) her form E payslips in which i seek to reference to her earning capacity, and letter confirming unemployment was in fact voluntary on her behalf.

>>How can i go about asking the other party what i want included in trial bundle ?

Just write to them and say you want X,Y and Z included. If they refuse any or all then they will give reasons and you can argue giving your reasons.

I read somewhere that credit card statement not allowed , is this correct?

No. The test of whether documents should be included in a trial bundle is whether they are relevant for the issues that the court has to decide. And there are separate summary documents in the court bundle which tell the court what issues it has to decide and what each side says about those issues. It very much depends what the issues are. If one side says (s)he is aged 61 and the other says 59 (when age affects something like date of retirement etc) then a birth certificate would be relevant otherwise it would be supremely irrelevant.

On section 25 statement i am allowed to attach no more then 10 pages of exhibits.
What are these ? Evidence i need to upload onto the bundle and number of where it can be found in bundle ?

An exhibit is something like this. Statement, 'I have a broken arm. (Exhibit 1)'. Exhibit 1: X-ray of broken arm.

In your case I think the other side is going to be responsible for preparing and paginating the bundle so you just need to make sure that documents you want included are included.

HI terry, i have emailed the other side to let them know i am ready for exchange of statements and latest disclosure.
I have been told don’t sent mine till they agree to mutually exchange. I have all my emails ready in the drafts.

What if i don’t hear and they contact me 1 week before the hearing ( same as FDR )



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2025 06:15AM by Xh.p.

One week before a hearing is not unreasonable. You should keep copies of your correspondence saying you were ready to exchange so that you can produce it if there is an issue about the timing of disclosure on the day.

I have just exchanged updated disclosure and the wife has hidden multiple bank statements from different accounts and her saving have vanished in 11 months. From nearly £60k in cash saving to now £0.

No doubt this will get brushed under the carpet. What can be done ?

That is the sort of thing that people are cross examined upon when they give evidence. Proper cross examination and closing submissions is how these things are tackled.

Hi terry- i am getting thrown additional questions by the other side regarding my self employed status.
These questions should of been raised during the court approved questionnaire. They carry on fishing.
Do i have to respond these questions ?

They were entitled to submit questions in a questionnaire or questionnaires approved by the court. If you have answered those questions you are not obliged to answer endless continuing questions in correspondence. That is the whole point of court approved questionnaires. It is designed to prevent never ending interrogation (and the cost that incurs).

Of course, it can also be a matter of common sense and scale. If answering one question with documentary evidence in support is sufficient to clear up a genuine concern then that is one thing. Responding to an endless series of questions that should properly have been put in formal questionnaire is something else.

Also, it is worth bearing in mind that if you do not answer you will probably be asked these questions in cross examination (if a court thinks they are relevant) so it is prudent to have your answers ready even if you do not choose to share them in correspondence.

Hi terry, i have sent over documents requested to be included in hearing bundle.
I have highlighted her statements where shows excessive spending
Her solicitors reply.

All four of your emails containing the additional disclosures you wish to include in the bundle were unfortunately filtered into my Junk mail folder. As such, I have only just become aware of them.
I have not yet had the opportunity to review the documents in detail. However, I note that you have annotated some of the documents. Please note that I will not be including annotated versions in the bundle; instead, I will use the original documents as provided during the disclosure process.
I will shortly provide you with the index for both the core bundle and the supplementary bundle.
In accordance with the court order, the core bundle will remain the same as FDR Hearing

What can i do?

The reply suggests that your documents will be included but without annotations added by you. That is correct. You are entitled to put forward the documents you would like included but they must be the original documents and not ones that you have annotated. To the extent that you are making points in those annotations those points can be raised by you in cross examination and in submissions at any final hearing if the court considers them relevant to the issues which have to be decided.

Am I ok in producing my own bundle with documents they do not want to include.
Serving the other side a hard copy and the judge a hard copy on the morning of the hearing?

Depends what's in this 'bundle'. If it contains documents which are not permissible for one reason or another at worst the hearing might have to be adjourned at your expense. You should not do this without first taking legal advice to avoid that risk.

the journey has come to an end. My final hearing was yesterday. It has been a hard battle as a litigant in person and I sincerely thank david for all his help on this forum.
Although my barrister was excellent in pleading my case and cross examination yesterday the judge settled on a 60/40 split in my favour and house to be sold.
The wife played the teary victim card and although i was excellent when getting cross examined the judge felt i was at times arrogant in my responses and sarcastic. My barrister had to remind me im not a lawyer.
No order to cost.
Judge didn't believe account that wife took rolex watch with her to my shock but is what it is.
All in all she’s spent most of her saving, paid a total of 23k in legal fees and walks away with 15k profit. In Which that will still decrease as she will still speak to me through solicitors on the sale or house.
It’s been emotional time just glad i can move on now. ( although the other side is extremely petty sending me anonymous text )

These things are always stressful. Now that a decision has finally been made you will be able to put all this behind you after the order has been implemented.

As the home has to be sold- the judge did not really put a timeline on when and value to be sold at?
He did say i hope you sell it for as much as you can to help both of you out.

Also my barrister did mention that if you suddenly want to buy out her share, you can but just make sure the monies a gift from family. Is this correct ?