You may have read recently about an error occurring on Her Majesty’s Court online forms. The error is said to be in the online version of the Financial Statement commonly known as a Form E.
Divorce form error
This form is filed with the Court during financial proceedings arising on divorce and it sets out your financial circumstances to the Court. The Judge uses this information to establish what assets there are between the parties and then how they are to be divided.
The error in the form allegedly means that liabilities which were disclosed within the form may not be deducted from the total equity at the end of the form therefore making a parties net worth higher than in actual fact it was.
The media are suggesting that Judges may therefore have followed the ‘totals sections’ and made awards based on the figures shown and may have missed the fact that there were liabilities to be accounted for.
It is difficult to know whether this is in fact true because divorce proceedings and the financial proceedings arising on divorce are known as private proceedings which means they are dealt with by the District Judge in Chambers and only the parties and their legal representatives (if appointed) are present for the hearings.
The outcome of any such hearing is not a matter of public record and so only the parties, their solicitors and the Court Service have access to the information.
It may, however, be a great worry for some who may have acted as a litigant in person and are unfamiliar with the Court process and so you may wish to find out from a solicitor whether your settlement was fair. It is possible to consider previous settlements based on the information disclosed to the Court through Form Es despite the error occurring on the forms.
If of course, you are going through such proceedings now and are unsure about filing in these forms, you should consult a solicitor who can guide you through the process, even if they are not representing you at Court.
How Nelsons Can Help
If you need advice on separation or any other family related matter, please contact our Family Law team and they will be happy to discuss your circumstances in more detail and give you more information about the services that we can provide. The team can be contacted on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.