Delays throughout the court system is a recognised issue. I am aware of a case where the Family Court Judge delivered their judgment on the division of relationship property nine months after the end of the hearing. At that point, house prices had risen by 30 per cent on average in 2021, prejudicing both parties. The judgment was eventually overturned because it did not account for the change in the house value.
Reserved decision
When relationships end, some disputes are taken to the Family Court.
In most cases the Judge will indicate whether they may award costs towards a successful party. Generally, the Judge will encourage the parties to try to reach an agreement on any costs payable. They will otherwise make a further decision if no agreement is reached.
In complex cases, however, the Judge may reserve the decision. This means that they will delay final judgment for a while.
They may take time to review the evidence and deliver a judgment at a later time, usually in a more detailed, written form than if they were to deliver a judgment immediately after the hearing. Otherwise, the Judge may give an answer at the end of the hearing and give the reasons later.
The decision-making timeframe
Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to speed up the decision-making process.
There is no mandatory timeframe for the Family Court to decide on cases once they have been heard. While the Court can aim to deliver a judgment or the reasons for their judgment within one month of the end of the hearing, it may not always be possible due to the complexity of the case or the existing workload. Even so, there is an expectation that 90 per cent of all judgments or reasons for judgments will be delivered within three months.
In contrast, the Youth Court, which deals with criminal offending by children and young people, aims to deliver a judgment or reasons for judgment within two weeks of the end of the hearing, and expects that 90 per cent are delivered in three weeks.
These different aims and expectations take into account a young person's sense of time. A few months or a year can be significant in a child or young person's life. The longer that matters take for the courts to resolve, the higher the risk of prolonging any negative impact on the child or young person's welfare and development.
The trouble with delays
The Property (Relationships) Act 1976 follows the principle that cases should be resolved as inexpensively, simply, and speedily as is consistent with justice.
Despite this, a dispute already takes on average 13 months to resolve in the Family Court. It is difficult to feel certainty and closure, especially with the potential delay in receiving a decision.
Covid-19 is a setback that led to widespread and severe delays. More Judges have been appointed and more judicial resources allocated to help deal with the congestion in the Family Court since 2014.
How you will know when a decision is made
If any individual judgment or reasons for judgment is not delivered within three months, your lawyer can inquire through the Family Court Registry about the status of the decision.
The decision will generally be emailed as a written copy or letter to your lawyer, and they will pass on the result to you. Occasionally, the Judge may request the parties be present in court to hear the decision. Sometimes, you are only given a few hours' notice of the decision being made.
That said, because you may be working overseas at the time that the decision is ready, it will be very unlikely that the Judge will require your presence in court.
Appealing a decision
After you have received the Family Court decision you may appeal to the High Court against it. The timeframe to file your appeal with the High Court is 20 working days. It is worth noting that if you are the party who decides to appeal, you are responsible for the costs of filing.
In my experience, the High Court is normally very efficient in dealing with appeals.
If a client is considering an appeal, I always advise them to seek a second opinion from someone apart from the lawyer who conducted the initial hearing. I also advise the client to request a copy of the evidence notes. It is important to fully consider the matter before incurring further legal costs, time and energy in appealing, given the potential for delays.
Jeremy Sutton is a senior family lawyer, specialising in divorce cases where there are significant assets, including family trusts and complex business structures.
