Applying to Court - Form A
This page is about applying to court if you cannot agree on the division of your assets. If you have agreed, and you need to know how to file a consent application, see our separate page on that.
This type of application is called ‘financial remedies’.
If you’ve been married before, you might remember it by its old name, ‘ancillary relief’.
What the court does
If you apply to court for ‘financial remedies’ the court will control the process and list a number of hearings to resolve the issues. This kind of court process is known as a ‘contested financial remedies process’ as you and your ex can’t agree.
It’s not a quick process. There will be at least three hearings and there is a lot to do between those hearings.
However, even if you start the court process you and your ex might still reach agreement at any time – at the hearing or between them. Most cases don’t get as far as a final hearing but if your case does, this is when the judge decides what assets you should each get in your divorce.
Two essential first steps
MIAMs
Before you can apply to court you must attend a MIAM – a mediation information and assessment meeting. You will be exempt from this if you are a victim of domestic abuse and have certain kinds of evidence of this. We explain this here.
Unless you are exempt, you will need to attend a MIAM to find out about NCDR with a mediator. This is just you and the mediator, not your ex. They will tell you about different forms of NCDR and explore whether any are suitable in your situation.
If you conclude that NCDR isn’t appropriate, or the mediator contacts your ex (with your agreement) and they refuse to go to NCDR, the mediator will sign a form to allow you to go to court.
Start a divorce
You cannot apply to court until there are divorce proceedings. You or your ex must have filed a divorce application.
Completing the application form
To apply for the court you need form A.
You will need the following information to complete it:
Your name and your ex’s names exactly as they appear on the divorce papers
Your addresses and the addresses of any solicitors
The divorce case number
Your help with fees number if you are not paying the fee
The address of any land or houses that you or your ex owns or has an interest in, plus the name and address of any mortgage companies
Your Help with Fees code if you are not paying the fee
A copy of your conditional divorce order if this has been made, or a copy of your final divorce order if this has been made.
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Professor Polly says:
“The court can’t make a final financial remedies order until you at least reach conditional order stage, and that order won’t come into force until you get the final divorce order.
However, while you’re waiting for conditional order the court can still list and hold hearings and make interim orders.”
Paying the fee
You can find the court fee that you need to pay, and how, on our court fee page. You can send a cheque or get the court to ring you and take a card payment. If it’s a card payment, the court will contact you within 28 days after you submit the application. If you have not heard from the court within this time, call 0300 303 0642 (Monday to Friday: 10am to 6pm).
If you are on a low income or certain benefits, you won’t have to pay the fee but you will need to apply for Help with Fees. Our court fee page also tells you how to do this. If you use the online application for Help with Fees it will give you a code starting with HWF that you can write on the front page of your form A, in the box near the top.
Let’s start the application
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At the top right you can see a box. This is where you put your divorce case number (if you’re handwriting this form you really need to write small!) and the help with fees code.
You also need to add the court name. If you are in Norfolk or Suffolk, that will be the nearest to you of Bury St Edmunds; Chelmsford; Ipswich; and Norwich. If you’re not in this region, then find your region’s financial remedies court and then below that the nearest hearing venue to you.
Now add your names as they are shown on the divorce papers. You are the applicant. Your ex is the respondent.
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This bit asks about your assets. This is because there’s a new simplified process for modest asset cases in some areas.
Norfolk is not one of those areas – they’re all in the North. Tick the box anyway as no doubt it will be rolled out nationally at some point.
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Nature of the application. As you’re applying for financial remedies on divorce (or civil partnership dissolution) tick the top box. You then need to tell the court whether you have conditional order yet. If you do, tick that box yes and attach a copy. You need to do this because the court’s divorce computer doesn’t talk to its financial remedies computers. If you have got as far as final order, you can tick the final order box and attach that instead.
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Which box you tick next depends on whether you are the applicant in the divorce or the respondent.
If you applied for divorce and your divorce application says that you intend to apply for a financial order, tick the box that says ‘to proceed with’ and the box that says ‘divorce’.
If you applied for divorce and your divorce application does not say that you intend to apply for a financial order, tick the box that says ‘to apply to court for’ and the box that says ‘divorce’.
If you are the respondent in the divorce, tick the box that says ‘to apply to court for’ and the box that says ‘divorce’.
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Now you need to select what you're asking for. At this stage, you probably don't know and the safest thing is to tick all the boxes unless something is obviously not applicable.
An order for maintenance pending suit is an order that your ex pays you regular maintenance while the case is going through. Ticking this box does not automatically cause this to happen though. If you need this interim maintenance you must seek legal advice as you'll need to make a specific application for it. It's still sensible to tick this box in case your situation changes and you do need it.
A lump sum
A property adjustment order. This is for a property to be transferred from one party to the other, or your ownership of it changed, or perhaps it needs to be sold. While property includes houses and land, a property adjustment order covers other kinds of assets such as shares, businesses, cars, furniture, or jewellery. It can also transfer a tenancy in a rented property. Therefore even if you don't own a house, you may need a property adjustment order and should tick this box.
A settlement or transfer of property for the benefit of children. The children here are children raised by you both even if not biologically both of yours. You should tick this box if you have children.
A pension sharing order. This splits a pension fund (not a state pension but other kinds of pension such as workplace pensions) between you.
A pension compensation sharing order. This is for when you or your ex has a workplace pension and the business has become insolvent. It's a good idea to tick this just in case you later find this is the situation.
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You can ignore the 'apply to vary' and 'apply to discharge' boxes. These are about when there is an existing order. If you do have an existing financial remedy order you should get some legal advice to see what if anything can be changed in it.
Tick the 'no' box where it says type of application.
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If you do have a house or land then you need to put the address here. You need to add the name and address of the mortgage company. You can find this on a mortgage statement.
If you rent and are applying for a transfer of tenancy as part of your application, you should also add the property details here and add the landlord details. Make sure you say 'rented, transfer of tenancy sought' somewhere in the box.
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If you want child maintenance, you should complete this section. However, child maintenance can't be dealt with by the court where the Child Maintenance Service can deal with it.
You can find out when the court can deal with it on our Child Maintenance page, but it's effectively the situations in the five bullet points you can see half way down the image.
This means that in a normal case where they're your own children, the children are not disabled, the children are under 16 or under 20 if in certain kinds of unpaid full time education or training, and the non-resident parent earns less than £156,000 per year, all parties are in the UK, then the CMS not the courts deal with child maintenance.
If you are in one of these situations you can ask for maintenance through the courts in which case you need to add the children's details in the next part of the form.
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Now we're onto the address pages. If you don't have a solicitor, add your address here.
If you don't want your ex to know your address then you can leave this blank and send the form a C8 form with your form A. This short form tells the court your address but this is not sent to the other party.
You add your ex's address or the address of their solicitor on the next page.
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Now we're onto the MIAMS bit. At the top of this page we said you needed to go to a MIAM or be exempt in order to be able to file this form.
If you went to a MIAM the mediator will have signed a duplicate page of this form (part 4) and you can send that with your form A.
If you are exempt from a MIAM tick the box to say exempt and then the right box in the following pages to explain why you are exempt. For example if you are a victim-survivor of domestic abuse you complete section 3a and attach evidence. So if you have a non-molestation order against your ex you tick the box for that ('a relevant protective injunction') and send the court a copy of the non-molestation order with your form A.
You will be pleased to hear that you are now at the end of the form. Tick the box saying 'I believe the facts stated in this application are true' and sign, date and print your name.
This is a statement of truth. Making a deliberately false statement is a contempt of court and you can be fined or sent to prison.
Double check you've completed the form accurately, using the checklist provided.
If you need help with the form or are uncertain about anything you must seek legal advice and not just 'wing it'.
Where to send the application
You need to send your application to the regional financial remedies court for the area you live in. These are listed on the government website. For Norfolk and Suffolk, this is
Peterborough Combined Court and Family Hearing Centre
Crown Buildings
Rivergate
Peterborough
PE1 1EJ
You also need to send a C8 if you are withholding your address from your ex, and evidence of attending a MIAM or exemption from a MIAM.
This is not the place you send anything after this. Once your case is issued, you will send future documents to a different place.
If you’re not in Norfolk and Suffolk, you need to find your regional financial remedies court.
What happens next
When the court receives your application it will take your fee or check you are eligible for fee remission (not paying the fee). It will the issue your application and send you:
A copy of your application
A notice of hearing setting out the date, time, and place of your first hearing, which is known as the first appointment. In this region, the courts that hear financial remedies case are Bury St Edmunds; Chelmsford; Ipswich; and Norwich.
A court order with Directions - a list of things you must do before the hearing. Like all court orders, it must be followed. Breach of a court order is a contempt of court. Our page on preparing for the first hearing explains what you will be asked to do.
Serving the form A
The court will send your application and the notice of hearing and order to your ex directly. It is a good idea to send a further copy yourself so there is no issue about whether they have received it.
You will need to send your mortgage company (or landlord if you are asking for a transfer of tenancy) a copy of these documents too. The court does not do this so you will have to do this yourself.