Intervenor Cases: Preliminary Issue Hearing or FDR (or NCDR)?
Should case management decisions in intervenor cases place greater focus on the opportunities presented by an FDR or NCDR taking place prior to a preliminary issue hearing?
FDRs
Potanina v Potanin (Case Management) [2026] EWFC 80
MacDonald J. Case management decision on the wife's claim under Part III Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 after a Russian divorce. The court refused the husband's applications to adjourn proceedings and for a split hearing, lifted a stay on disclosure, and set directions.
BC v BC [2025] EWFC 236
Peel J. Save for four specific matters, parties cannot refer to what happened at the pFDR. The Financial Remedies Court – Primary Principles paragraph 8 issued by Mostyn J and HHJ Hess goes too far by saying that the court should be told that offers were made and that an was indication given.
GH v GH – FDRs Are Not to Be Dispensed With
If ever there were any doubts as to the importance of the FDR appointment and the parties’ attendance at one, then Mr Justice Peel has unequivocally put those doubts to rest in his judgment in GH v GH [2024] EWHC 2547 (Fam), published on 3 October 2024. The court’s
DR Corner: Introducing Assent: Combining Arbitration and Private FDRs in a Streamlined Process based on the FPR Directions
Anyone who has tried to arrange a Private Financial Dispute Resolution (pFDR) will be familiar with that sinking feeling when the process is slipping away. It starts with a low-level dispute over the judge, the date or the location of the hearing. Then a seemingly innocuous question about disclosure. A
Xydhias, 25 Years On – What Exactly IS a Xydhias Agreement?
Practitioners will be familiar with the oft quoted phrase that ‘the court is not a rubber stamp’ (Kelley v Corston [1998] 1 FLR 986). The court must continue to exercise its discretion under s 25 MCA 1973 even when presented with an agreement between parties. The court will scrutinise the
DR Corner: The Drive for Gender Diversity in Private FDRs
Pressures on court time and the increasing use of remote courts over the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the increasing popularity and success of Private FDRs within (and instead of) financial remedy proceedings within the last 5 years.
A Private FDR is a ‘without prejudice’ hearing which can be used