FDR coming up - help

I have an FDR coming up in a month and am self representing (well my son deals with all correspondence).

Can he sit in with me to advise/negotiate at the FDR or must I do it alone? My english is not so good

Hi to hear that.You will have to apply to the court for you son be a Mackenzie friend (which is basically someone who will speak for you in court). You must have prior approval for this though from the court.

good Luck

Survive
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The form you use is a D11 which you can download from the net.

You need to put in a short cv and your Mac cannot have any personal interest so in fact I would say that your son will not be allowed to attend court with you to help with financial matters as it would prejudice the case.

What you need is to find another person to sit with you in court. You need to find a friend or neighbour who will be able to sit and keep moral counsel with you in court.

You will need to trust the judge to make the right decision for you. It is not a surprise for a judge that self litigants find it difficult to speak in court.

Thanks for the replies.

My son is not from the marriage and is not a dependent, so I think this should be okay to be my MacKenzie Friend?

One of the things you have to confirm is that you are not in a relationship with your Mac and that they have no personal interest in the finances.

I think the court might view your son who is not a son of your stbx as somewhat prejudiced about the outcome as although he is not a dependent it could be argued that he is going to seek more financial assets on your behalf as he could benefit in the future.

It could also be argued that he is already prejudiced and dislikes your stbx - maybe he did not like him at the point you and stbx got together and his opinion hasn''t changed.

If the court thinks he has a financial interest or that it would be seen that he is already prejudiced (note that the lay judge in Norway was taken off the judges list because he posted a message on line that he believed that the man who slaughtered so many victims deserved the death penalty - many may agree but he had then basically admitted that he already had decided the man was guilty - all parties on both sides said that he had to be removed).

I think it would be better for you to find someone else but failing that you need to apply to court to ask.

I would say that some courts allow Macs in as a matter of course - without having to apply in (I have direct experience of some courts requiring an application and others stating that an application is not required).

You could therefore just ring the court and find out if they require you to make an application . If they do not you could take a chance and hope that your husband does not object on the day. If he does object there is the risk that the judge will ask you son to leave the court.

Yup i agree some courts ask you be quite formal and send a short CV ect others just say no problem, with the courts who allow MF`s without any formal application you still need to be careful if the other side don`t know your attending with a MF they can object at the hearing (plenty do actually) if they can give any decent reason the judge may adjourn leaving you all waiting for another slot.

the opponents have rejected my mckenzie friend.

I will have to ask someone else.

One question, in the one hour negotiation prior to the FDR, can the mckenzie friend speak with the opponents solicitors?