I AM L.I.P

I AM L.I.P

I am a Litigant In Person

Your S25 Statement Explained
(With Template)

 

WHAT IS A S25 STATEMENT?

A S25 statement is a written account/narrative statement setting out your whole financial settlement case in detail. It is normally ordered by the judge at the financial dispute resolution appointment (also called the FDR hearing) of your court proceedings to be used at a final hearing. 

Your S25 statement must be sent to the court and to your ex-partner or their solicitor before the date and time set by the judge.

Your S25 statement is based on, and relates to, the S25 part of the Matrimonial Clauses Act 1973. Please click on the link below.

LINK TO S25 PART OF THE MATRIMONIAL CLAUSES ACT 1973

To have more detail about the steps involved in a financial settlement court case please click on the link below.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR A STEP BY STEP ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE COURT PROCESS OF DIVIDING MARITAL ASSETS INCLUDING MAKING THE INITIAL APPLICATION TO START COURT PROCEEDINGS.

WHEN DO YOU SEND IT TO THE COURT?

The judge will write in a court order the dates and times by which the S25 statement must be sent to the court and to your ex-partner or their solicitor.

TIPS FOR YOUR S25 STATEMENT

  • Stick to the point.
  • Keep your statements factual.
  • No accusations or emotions.
  • Keep your sentences short.

HOW SHOULD YOU REFER TO YOUR PARTNER IN YOUR S25 STATEMENT?

Normally, you should refer to your partner as the applicant or respondent, whichever one they are. We have also seen people refer to their partners by their name (MR, MRS, MS, DR). Please try NOT to refer to your ex-partner as W (wife) or H (husband) as some solicitors firms recommend as we feel it is cold.

WHAT FACTORS/CRITERIA WILL YOU NEED TO DETAIL IN YOUR S25 STATEMENT?

  • Your name, address, age, and duration of your marriage.
  • Income, earning capacity, property, pensions, financial resources (liquid funds), and employment now and in the future.
  • Financial needs, obligations, and responsibilities of both parties in the future.
  • Standard of living of the family before breakdown of marriage.
  • Health, physical, and mental disability of both you and your ex-partner.
  • The contribution each party has made to the marriage during the marriage (including care for home and children) and the contribution that will be made by you in the future to the welfare of the family.
  • Conduct of both parties during the marriage and during the divorce which you believe the court cannot disregard.
  • If any party will lose any benefit as a result of the divorce.
  • Relevant details of the children including their name and age, their financial requirements, their physical and mental disability, their educational needs, whom shall take on the responsibility for the children, and their overall welfare.

YOU CAN USE OUR I AM LIP TEMPLATE 

You will need to produce your own S25 statement as it is not a government form. 

The team here at I AM L.I.P have produced a S25 template for you to download and fill in. Once you have filled in it you can print a hard copy. Click on the upper right corner of the document below to access it. Once accessed, we recommend you click the ‘Open Original’ button on the upper right corner to download the document on Microsoft Word, or you can download the document on other applications such as Google Docs. The BLACK writing is part of the template document and should not be altered. The RED writing is where you should edit the template document as it is there to guide you on what to include.

PLEASE NOTE – Our team at I AM L.I.P have produced these templates with the focus being to cater to every type of user regardless of their skill set, technical capabilities, literacy comprehension and level of neurodiversity. We understand that when most people are completing these templates, they can be under immense emotional distress due to the difficult process of divorce. Therefore, these templates are here to make the process easier.