A considerable amount of preparation is required prior to a final hearing including, in particular, the preparation of a bundle of documents for the court, including specific documents required by the rules. At the hearing the court will hear evidence from both parties (and their witnesses), under oath, and the other party or their legal representative will be able to cross examine. The hearing is conducted in a strictly formal way. In view of these things, it can be a daunting prospect for many litigants acting in person (i.e. representing themselves). Accordingly, I would recommend that if the case reaches this stage, you should seriously consider whether you wish to instruct a solicitor to represent you at the hearing. If you do, you should instruct the solicitor as soon
as possible to give them the best opportunity to prepare the case for you.
If you do decide to continue to represent yourself, then the first thing you should do when the final hearing date is fixed is read the practice direction on court bundles dated 27 July 2006, which can be found on the Courts Service website (www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk). This explains what documents are required in the bundle and when it should be filed with the court.
As to the hearing itself, I can give little specific advice, as what to do and say will of course depend upon the facts of your case. I will, however, give two pieces of general advice. Firstly, prepare well for the hearing – make sure you are aware of those issues that are relevant to the outcome of the case and that you know exactly what order or orders you will be asking the court to make. Secondly, at the hearing, keep what you say and ask relevant to the issues – as I’ve said before, there is nothing worse than upsetting the judge by wasting their time going through irrelevant matters. Even if you do not want to instruct a solicitor to represent you at the hearing, you may wish to take some advice from a solicitor to clarify exactly what issues are relevant to the outcome of the case.
Once all the evidence has been heard, the district judge will make his or her decision. If there is time, and if the district judge does not want time to consider matters, the decision will be given at the end of the hearing, otherwise the hearing will be adjourned and you will need to go back to court on another day to hear the decision. The decision will be written up into a court order, a copy of which you will receive. Note once again that the order will only take effect when the divorce is finalised (if it has not been finalised already), by the decree absolute.