FA-FDR - I have lost everything

Hello All on this thread, i think i have found a way out of my dilemma. Please see the below draft of my appeal to the court to go today. The most important bit for me is the last part of the appeal at the bottom, derived from an e-mail i received from my wife's Solicitor. I think that the "agreement" is null and void due to this technicality.

Any pointers or improvements would be great.







Appeal as to decisions made at the First Appointment:

Please see below my reasons for appeal, and clarification on the orders to be made:

The hearing was changed from a First Appointment to an FDR with consent from both parties as there is a desire for this issue case to be put to rest.

I made a rash decision not to pursue this case any further, for two reasons:

Fear of being ordered to pay Mrs ? legal bills at the end of the process.

After basically 15 minutes the presiding Judge basically suggested that I would get absolutely nothing by pursuing this case any further.

My decision was incorrect because:

After further perusal of my documents, I became clear to me that Mrs Thompson and her Solicitor had already agreed not to pursue costs from me earlier in the process at the initial issue of the petition, thus rendering the threat of a cost application exactly that, a threat.

I was so astounded by the recommendation from the Judge that I was due nothing from the marriage, that it did not dawn on me, until after the fact, that this was simply a preliminary decision made quite literally after 15 minutes of perusal of the documents. This was not a final hearing. After time to think about the entire process, I now realize that yesterdays hearing was not a final port of call in this process.

Further issues with yesterdays FA/FDR:

A large portion of my questions were not satisfactorily answered, or in fact answered at all by Mrs ?.

No order was made for further information to be obtained, as the judge had decided in her own mind that I was owed nothing with very little back-round. This information is relevant to this case, and should the next step of an FH be approved, I will still be no closer to any form of answer or meaningful argument.

Although I had submitted an offer, considered to be too high by Mrs ? and her solicitor, I never heard and they never made an offer of any kind, so basically, I was still simply negotiating in the dark.

My fear is that yesterday’s meeting will be viewed as a Consent Order, as a result of decisions which I mistakenly made. I seem to remember a decision being taken that Mrs ? would draw up a Clean Break agreement, based upon yesterdays meeting. I would like to be clear that this is not

Not being grounded in the court process, and certainly not being used to the pressure of a court room, I simply faltered in my Decision Making Process, and was unable to make clear and precise decisions.

Finally, please refer to the e-mail message from Mrs ? below. Having had the opportunity to read all of the e-mails sent to me, the below mentioned e-mail, seems to state that all decisions made in the court yesterday are technically null and void, due to the fact that the Decree Nisi had not been issued.

Please see extracts of the e-mail received below:


Dear Mr ?

I know that you would prefer if at all possible to treat the forthcoming court hearing as an FDR and it is clearly preferable for all concerned that matters should be concluded as soon as possible . However the court cannot make any final order relating to your financial application until a decree nisi of divorce has been pronounced

DIY - just so it's clear - you are one of our own - no-one messes with DIY.
Did you sign a draft Consent Order?
My draft Consent Order was written out by my barrister at the FDR - handwritten with crossings out and bits inserted on a scruffy bit of A4 - not even sure who signed it - except for me and my ex... I also was freaked out by the threat of the cost - the only thing the judge said anything about was the massive cost of a Final Hearing.

I don't know about the nisi thing - I always assumed you couldn't start the court financial process unless you had the decree nisi- but to be honest I'm not sure maybe someone can say for sure?

DIY,

A court order for ancillary relief cannot be made against your will until the Final Hearing.

A consent order can me made at any time during the ancillary relief process.

A variation to both types of order can be made on the grounds of change of circumstances, undisclosed information coming to light afterward, or in the case of a consent order, being under duress or not having the benefit of legal advice.

Did you sign anything and if so what?

YA

Hi DIY,

I've just gone through my final hearing - completely different outcome to the FDR which was a waste of time. Basically the judge at the FDR tries to bully you into sorting out a settlement there and then but doesn't really look into the financial evidence very closely. He recommended a 50/50 split even though I had main custody of our 2 children and she was earning double my salary though being self employed she hid it.

As the others on here have suggested go for the final hearing, you really don't have a lot to lose if you are self-repping though it may be a good idea to get a barrister. You will usually pay your own costs unless it is proved that you have lied or withheld financial evidence - this is what has just happened to my ex-wife, she ended up having to pay 40% of my costs as she didn't declare her business finances or a sworn form E! I also came away with about 60/40 and a spousal maintenance order.

Good luck.

Richard

I have not signed anything, the judge simply stated that she would push this through, while my wifes solicitor draws up the consent order. In the mean time we have to wait for the nisi.

YA, your comment below are all applicable.

A court order for ancillary relief cannot be made against your will until the Final Hearing. A variation to both types of order can be made on the grounds of change of circumstances, undisclosed information coming to light afterward, or in the case of a consent order, being under duress or not having the benefit of legal advice.

Does a consent order only become binding upon signing?

Do i even need to appeal considering nothing has come through from wifes solicitor? I cannot afford the £100.00 fee.

Am i right in understanding that if i do not sign the consent order, i will still be able to go to a fianl hearing?

YES YES YES - No signature no Consent Order ??????????
Please somebody else say that's right.

Richard, your response has just warmed the cockles of my heart........