First appointment

Been and gone.
Quite an anticlimax really.
Took 10 mins, neither me nor stbx spoke.
Judge told her that she did not need a 5 bedroomed house for her and my son 4 days a week.
FDR in April. Lets hope we can reach an agreement before then

I'd welcome an anti climax to be honest.... mine is a week on Monday, and I am SO unsure as to what to expect....
What is it that actually happens at these 'hearings'.... what is addressed?....

dear s/l
For your info...this is what happened at mine......i met my barrister 1 hour beforehand to run through my situation - good idea to have all your financial info to hand. He/she will then advise you of what you're likely to achieve if the case went to final hearing. Then his sol came to speak to mine and they go off to talk. They may well make you an offer to settle without going to fdr so you need to have an idea what you would be prepared to accept. When we got in front of the judge he didn't even have my ex's form E and i understand they dont really read these till final hearing anyway. I was given 7 days to get the FMH valued and the court date was set for fdr. Neither of you have to speak and if your sol gets there early enough you may be able to get a side room for your talk with your solicitor - otherwise, as in my case, you will have to perch somewhere in the main waiting room which is not ideal. I was in the court for a couple of hours but only in front of the judge for about 10 minutes. Good luck for your first apointment - it is a bit of an anti climax but at least you have set the ball rolling. Hope this helps DM

What's the First Appointment for ?

Does the District Judge check at First Appointment that all the required documents and information are provided?
How can the judge say what your housing needs are at the First Appointment?
Did your solicitor submit two documents - one summarising capital assets and one for your income needs?
Mine did for FDR - is it standard practice to do that for the First Appointment?

I was in the waiting room for the first hour of my FDR - discussing your life with a barrister you've just met, with your estranged husband a few yards away is unacceptable.

re 1st appt
pressuming you have both filed form e basically you are putting to the dj the reasonable questions/disputes from form e to be answered by you both for fdr negotiaitions... thats it .... I had 2 first appt as x2b didnt play ball
My fdr was also a wipe out not able to come to conclusion and no way e a Clean Break
at fdr and 1st appt was in court 2 to 3 hours whilst sols and djis so so sad that we have to go through this
good luck to all in court today or soon
looby

think half of that post got lost as skipped the fdr saga out..oh prob was boring anyway
But i just want to wish you all well in court the dj only human and doing thier job(worth)
again looby

My 1st app was turned into an FDR and was adjourned because we came to an agreement. I was to lump sum her and she keep the house. Kick in the balls but the alternative was lifetime of SM. Do the maths. We sat around a lot. My sol and her baraster chatting a lot and then into court for 2 mins.

2nd FDR was much the same except judge said "Why are you here?"

I am not sure if we have to FH. Thats all I can say about it. Chris