1.    In matrimonial causes where an agreement as to financial provisions has been reached, it is frequently desired that the agreed provisions should be embodied in an order made on the hearing of the cause.

2.    The inclusion of agreed terms in an order will usually be justified only where they are in a form capable of subsequent variation or enforcement. Thus where it is intended: (a) that a party should submit to an order which it is within the statutory power of the court to make; or (b) that a party should submit to an undertaking to the court which, in the event of non-compliance, is to be enforceable by committal; the terms of the order or undertaking must be fully set out in the order. With this type of undertaking, care should be taken to see that it is in sufficiently precise terms to be enforceable.

3.   In a case in which it is proposed to ask the judge at the hearing to make an order embodying all or any of the terms of an agreement, the document setting out the agreed terms, signed by or on behalf of the parties, should be lodged with the Registrar, for consideration prior to the hearing and, whenever possible, at least seven days before the date of the hearing. Failure to lodge the terms in advance may result in difficulty in incorporating them in the order of the court.

4.   Where the parties have reached a concluded agreement with the assistance of their legal advisers it is rarely necessary or desirable for them to incur the considerable expense of referring such an agreement to the judge prior to the hearing; but the procedure for so doing under s.18B(c) of the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance (Cap.179) and r.6 of the Matrimonial Causes Rules remains for use in exceptional cases.

5.   Where, in an application for ancillary relief or as to arrangements for access to children, etc., the court is to be asked to make an order in terms agreed between the parties, it is of assistance to the court as well as to the parties and their representatives, particularly if the terms are lengthy or detailed, for the provisions which it is sought to embody in the order to be set out in an agreed draft, signed by the parties or their legal advisers, and handed in at or before the hearing of the application.