PENSION ADJUSTMENT ORDERS RULED IN CHAMBERS

The Following is a checklist of documents:

1. Ex Parte Docket;

2. Notice to Trustees;

3. Affidavit to Trustees;

4. Pension Adjustment Order x 4 copies;

5. Original confirmation letter from Trustees;

6. Consent letter from other side to rule in chambers.

The process for ruling pensions in chambers (without the need for parties to attend court) has proven a huge success for both the family law office and solicitors by ensuring matters are dealt with efficiently and without the need to attend court which further allows the office more capacity for Court lists that do require a court appearance.

The family law Circuit Court office will arrange to have pension adjustment orders ruled in judges’ chambers upon the filing of the documentation listed above. I had a meeting with the office recently and they confirmed that the list which they send to solicitors is exhaustive. One of the difficulties is obtaining consent from lay litigants, as their consent is required before an order can be ruled in chambers.

The alternative is to bring an Ex Parte Motion. The Circuit Court will provide a date for the matter to be ruled in those circumstances. The Ex Parte Motion docket suffices for this purpose. A pension adjustment order can still be ruled by coming into court on an Ex Parte Docket with all the necessary documents above where a physical court date will be assigned.

Unfortunately, under the Circuit Court rules it is mandatory to provide an affidavit of service of the notice to trustees. This is

UPDATE – HIGH COURT MOTION PAPERS

In the High Court when lodging papers from the 17th of April 2023 for motions in the common law motions list, motion papers must be lodged in advance of the hearing. A paginated and indexed booklet of motion papers must be lodged in the list room which is beside the Central Office by no later than 4:30 PM on the Thursday preceding the Monday. Practitioners will note a previous practice note in the Parchment in relation to the list room being closed at certain times.

despite the fact that a letter from the pension provider confirms receipt of the notice to trustees which is part of the paperwork. Therefore, always serve your notice to trustees by registered post at the earliest opportunity.

I have had several cases where the papers were returned to me a number of times. I indicated to the office that when a query is responded to, sometimes a different query is then raised. I asked if it was possible if all of the issues could be addressed when the papers are sent back the first time. I am assured the office will do its best to do that.

I asked the office if there were difficulties at their end and they indicated that the number one issue is practitioners seeking to have a pension adjustment order ruled at the last minute where there is an issue pertaining to death in service. These orders must be ruled within a year of the divorce or judicial separation. This can lead to last-minute applications which are always facilitated where possible. We should endeavour to have these ruled as soon as possible following the divorce decree.

Please note also that any affidavits sworn by lay litigants are required to have the solicitor swearing the document’s stamp, before they will be accepted.

In the event of difficulty with any application, my advice is to go into the office when it opens at 9:30 AM where the office will be only too pleased to assist and there is rarely a queue. The office is open from 9:30 until 3:30 without any lunch break.

The office asked me to convey their thanks to all the solicitors for working with them in this matter and that your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Summer

DSBA Property Seminar

The DSBA Property Committee hosted a seminar on the 24th April 2023 on various aspects of property law, including the First Home Scheme, Help to Buy Scheme, updates on residential property taxes and the new Vacant Homes Tax, and Residential Tenancies issues.

The speakers at the Seminar included Una Cassidy BL, Jennifer Ring (ByrneWallace), Deidre Fahy (Revenue Commissioners) and Michael Broderick (CEO of First Home Scheme).