Advisory notice issued on changes to standard family orders

May 26, 2023

Mr Justice Peel has issued an advisory notice on changes to Standard Family Orders (SFOs) following a review process, in a bid to achieve “internal consistency and clarity of phraseology”.

Making the announcement with the authority of the President of the Family Division, Mr Justice Peel, the judge in charge of SFOs, said: “On 18 January 2022, Mostyn J announced a wide-ranging review of the SFOs. I continued the review after succeeding him on 26 April 2022.”

He said that the “significant volume of responses, combined with the detailed consideration given to the SFOs by the Standard Orders Group, has led to a number of revisions”.

Mr Justice Peel noted that the revisions reflected changes in law, practice and procedure.

The main changes to the SFOs, as outlined in the advisory notice are:

The orders contain directions supporting the Statement on the Efficient Conduct of Financial Remedy proceedings in the Financial Remedies Court Below High Court Judge level.
The orders give a greater steer for the commissioning of SJE experts rather than sole experts, and for their reports to be considered by the court without personal attendance at the hearing.
The orders accommodate directions relevant to remote hearings and the guidance on electronic bundles.
The financial orders include additional undertakings such as (i) not applying for decree absolute/final decree until 28 days after the making of a financial order (relevant for the making of a pension sharing order); (ii) removal of Land Registry notices; and (iii) obtaining a Get.
The orders incorporate the provisions of the Divorce and Dissolution Act 2020, incorporating the new terminology for divorces – conditional order and final order in place of decree nisi and decree absolute – although retaining both options for the time being while this change takes effect.
The orders incorporate the provisions of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, including prohibition against cross examination provisions, and the appointment of a Qualified Legal Representative.
The financial orders include draft costs orders updated to reflect changes in practice and guidance on costs.
The financial orders include draft directions and substantive orders on pensions updated to reflect changes in practice and guidance in this area.
The financial orders include a free-standing draft order to accommodate the Accelerated First Appointment procedure.
The orders include a Permission to Appeal directions order.
The orders incorporate the changes to law and practice brought by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
The orders incorporate the new required forms for cases involving committal applications.
The orders incorporate, among other updates, an updated Deprivation of Liberty order, an updated standalone Port Alert order, reference to the “Planning Together for Children Course” instead of the “Separated Parents Information Programme”, and the correct contact details for any disclosure request to NHS England.
The orders incorporate bespoke headings for the Family Court and the Family Division.
The children orders reduce significantly the use of recitals. In general, recitals now appear at the end of children orders, giving greater prominence to the body and substance of the orders.
Warning notices have been updated and made consistent.
In the children orders, there are separate orders for different stages of public law and private law proceedings, all of which have been made more streamlined.

Noting that although the intention was to create a “comprehensive” set of orders, Mr Justice Peel said: “Some of the orders are lengthy and can be time consuming for a judge to draft in a case where both parties are unrepresented. This particularly applies to private law children cases and Family Law Act injunctions”.

He said that the Standard Orders Group is investigating ways in which drafting orders can be made “more streamlined and quicker” for judges.

Lottie Winson