The final hearing is the hearing where a judge takes matters out of the parties’ hands and hears the evidence and tells the parties what the final order will be.

In the run up to the hearing, the party who is the Applicant will prepare the trial bundle.  Part 27 of The Family Procedure Rules sets out requirements for the format of the trial bundle.  Usually there will be some discussion between the parties about what should go in the trial bundle.

The trial bundle should have page numbers so that the court is able to go to specific pages.

At the final hearing, both sides will hand in and also exchange position statements.  The position statements set out what both sides say the judge should do and why.  It is useful for the judge if the parties present “net effect schedules”, in other words a table setting out the effect of their proposal on the assets, e.g.:

The length of a final hearing will depend upon how complex the case is and how much money is involved.  In a relatively straightforward case the case will be set down for a day.  In some rare cases it could be half a day.  In more complex cases two days or more will be required.