Financial Remedies Unit
In those cases where financial complexity is involved, the Central Family Court has issued a Certificate that must now be completed in order for the case to be referred to the Financial Remedies Unit (FRU). The Certificate includes guidance explaining the role of the Financial Remedies Unit and how to make referrals.
Complex Financial Case Guidance
The guidance is as follows:
The Financial Remedies Unit (FRU) is a specialist unit within the Central Family Court. It currently comprises seven full time courts conducted by specialist financial judges. It is headed by His Honour Judge Martin O’Dwyer.
1 Administratively it is supported by dedicated FRU staff and clerks who deal with all issuing, listing and drawing orders in Financial Matters.
2 The purpose is the efficient handling of complex financial cases.
3 The overriding criterion for a case being retained in FRU is complexity, i.e. is a case of such complexity that it is appropriately dealt with in a specialist financial unit.
4 The FRU has a number of internal procedures for the efficient managing of financial cases and an Enforcement Unit headed by DJ Robinson in cooperation with the Legal Advisers.
5 The contact email address is [email protected].
Bury St Edmunds Divorce Centre
6 All Forms A subject to the following should will be issued at Bury St Edmunds (BSE) Divorce Centre or other Divorce Centre and allocated to the appropriate Family Court centre on a local court basis.
Issuing at CFC
7 Forms A may be issued directly in FRU at the Central Family Court upon completion of the Certificate identifying the appropriate level of complexity.
8 If it appears on the face of the Certificate that the criterion of complexity is or may not be met the matter will be referred to a judge of FRU who may decide to return the application or to refer the Form A to BSE for allocation on the appropriate local court criteria or to list the matter up to First Appointment in FRU.
9 Cases inappropriately issued in FRU which have to be referred to BSE may be subject to delay as the matter is transferred between courts. Similarly those whose first appointment is listed in FRU when the matter is not appropriately retained may suffer delay as the matter is then transferred to the appropriate local family court.
10 Transfers between courts
- To FRU. Any family court may transfer cases to FRU where by reason of complexity or other good reason it is not convenient to retain the hearing in the local family court.
- From FRU. Nothing in these procedures is intended to restrict the judicial decision as to appropriate venue and FRU will liaise with other family courts for the efficient conduct of judicial business.
11 Petitions and Forms A may be issued at the CFC and other Family Court Centres in addition where
- There is a jurisdictional “race” between issues between competing jurisdictions
- Urgent relief is required e.g. freezing orders
Such applications once issued and the urgent matters dealt with, the normal test of rules of complexity or locality should determine venue.
HHJ Altman, Senior Designated Family Judge for London
Rachel Jones, Operations Manager, Central Family Court
The FRU has been set up to handle complex financial cases, and is made up of seven full time courts presided over by specialist financial judges and is headed by His Honour Judge Martin O’Dwyer.
The Form
The information needed to complete the form includes basic information about the marriage and divorce proceedings and invites details of the potential complexities of the case including the value of the assets and the likely issues in the case.
Click here to download the Certificate of Financial Complexity (in Word format for ease of use).
Contact
If you have any queries on divorce or financial remedy applications and would like Paradigm Family Law to help, please call us on 0845 6020422 or email us at [email protected]. We offer fixed fees for divorce and financial cases from the outset and a free initial consultation.
