How to Fill in a Form A (Application for a Financial Order)

Filling in a Form A

The form requires detailed personal information, including your full name, address, and contact details, as well as the same information for your spouse or civil partner. You must also specify the type of financial order you are seeking, which could include property division, maintenance (both spousal and for any children), or pension sharing, depending on your circumstances and needs.

If you are asking the court to commence financial remedy proceedings, you will additionally have to confirm that you have attended a mediation and information assessment meeting (‘MIAM’). The MIAM is important in ensuring that only the cases that need the court’s input (that is, they are not capable of being resolved outside the court process) are listed for judicial determination.

If you and your spouse or civil partner have already reached a financial agreement, you will not need to provide a MIAM certificate. Instead, you would submit the agreement alongside the Form A for the court’s approval (together with a Form D81), and make it clear at the top of the Form A that it is being filed for dismissal purposes.

What Happens After Submitting a Form A?

Once a Form A has been completed and submitted, the next steps will be determined by whether it has been filed alongside a financial agreement for the court’s approval, or whether the court is being asked to decide the financial division itself.

If the application has been filed with a draft consent order (being the formal document setting out the parties’ financial agreement), the court will decide whether the agreement reached is fair and reasonable in the circumstances. If the draft consent order is approved, the court will then issue the order, making that agreement legally binding (although it won’t take effect until after the final order is granted in the divorce or dissolution). If the court feels that any amendments or clarification are needed, these will need to be resolved before the consent order is sealed, and made legally binding.

If the applicant is instead seeking to commence financial remedy proceedings, the court will seal the application to confirm it has been accepted, and then set out the timetable for the exchange of financial disclosure (starting with the Form E), and schedule the first hearing, being the First Directions Appointment (‘FDA’). The FDA is important as a case management hearing, in evaluating any questions arising from the parties’ financial disclosure, which are filed ahead of time, and whether any expert evidence is needed. The purpose of the hearing is to evaluate what is needed to get the case to a point where an agreement may be possible, or a judge can make a determination. No asset division will actually be ordered at this stage.