However the court does not automatically involves itself in the financial issues.
As members of Resolution, Maddersons family law team will try to resolve financial issues through negotiation, conciliation or possible mediation. This is intended to achieve the best result for both parties and to keep costs to a minimum. If financial issues are agreed in one of these ways an agreed order can then be prepared and submitted to the court for approval. In these circumstances it is not usual for the parties to have to attend before the court.

In circumstances where it is not possible to reach an agreed settlement then recourse can be made to the court system. Once formal court proceedings are commenced by the filing of a Form A the court then takes control of the timetable that must be followed by both parties, sets out what documentation must be produced and made available to the other party, and if a negotiated settlement cannot be reached during the course of the proceedings, will ultimate come to a final decision which will be binding on both parties. If formal proceedings are commenced then it will be necessary for both parties to attend before the court, regardless of which spouse made the original application to the court.

The main orders that the court can make in ancillary relief proceedings are for maintenance, lump sum orders, property adjustment orders and pension sharing orders.