What happens at a FHDRA

The First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment is the court's first proper look at your case. Most parents arrive expecting a trial and find something closer to a structured meeting. Understanding that in advance takes a surprising amount of fear out of the day.

Who will be there

• A judge or a panel of magistrates with a legal adviser
• A Cafcass officer, usually available at court that day
• You, and the other parent, each with a solicitor or barrister if you have one
• Anyone else who has been joined as a party

Before you go in, a Cafcass officer will often speak to each of you separately. They will already have carried out safeguarding checks with the police and local authority and sent the court a safeguarding letter.

What the court is trying to do

1. 1

   Find out what is actually agreed

   Cases often narrow quickly once someone asks directly. Agreement on even part of the arrangements is progress.

2. 2

   Identify the real dispute

   The judge wants the specific questions they will eventually have to answer, not the full history.

3. 3

   Consider safeguarding

   If there are allegations of harm, the court decides whether they need resolving first, which may mean a fact finding hearing.

4. 4

   Decide what information is needed

   This might be a Cafcass section 7 report, a police disclosure, medical records or statements from each parent.

5. 5

   Set the next steps

   The hearing ends with directions: who must do what, and by when.

How to prepare

The one page that helps most

Bring a short position statement, ideally one or two pages. Say what you are asking for, what you agree to, and what you think the court needs to decide. Take three copies: one for the judge, one for the other side, one for you. Judges routinely read them and it is the simplest way to be heard clearly when you are nervous.

Practical things

• Arrive at least an hour early. Security queues are slow and negotiation happens before the hearing.
• Bring your application, any orders already made and your key documents in date order.
• Bring a notebook. You will not remember the directions afterwards.
• Arrange childcare for the whole day, not just the listed time.
• If you asked for special measures such as separate waiting areas, remind the usher when you arrive.

In the room

Address the judge as Sir or Madam, or Your Honour for a Circuit Judge. Speak to the judge, not the other parent. Do not interrupt. If something said about you is wrong, write it down and respond when it is your turn. Composure is not a formality here. It is evidence about how you are likely to behave around your child during conflict.

What you leave with

You leave with an order recording what was decided and a list of directions with deadlines. Read it carefully when it arrives, diary every date immediately, and do what it says. Missing a direction is one of the few things guaranteed to harm your position.