What will happen at my Final Hearing?

If you do not resolve matters prior to your Final Hearing, the court will have given you a time estimate and you will, after having discussed matters with your solicitor come up with a timetable for the Final Hearing. 

Technically, the Judge will take the first 1-2 hours of the time listed for the hearing to read all of the relevant documentation and it is common for the trial itself to commence between 11 am and 12 pm on the first day. 

The Applicant will give evidence first, followed by the Respondent. As your evidence is in the form of a Witness Statement, you would typically be asked maybe a couple of questions by your own solicitor or barrister, and you would then be cross examined by your spouse’s barrister. You may also be asked questions by the Judge. 

In certain cases, there may be third parties who are required to give evidence. Your respective barristers would then set out your position to the Judge by way of summary, commonly called ‘closing arguments’. The Judge will then decide and issue you with his or her Judgment. Typically, the Judge will adjourn the hearing for an hour or more to consider his or her Judgment.

In some cases, the Judge will reserve Judgment, that is to say he or she will set a further hearing within the next 28 days for Judgment to be given. Your barristers will then, between them, draft the Order that the Judge has made.