Guide to Court 1: 1st Hearing; Court Forms & Statement

By: Abigail Taylor - Updated: 21 Dec 2022 | *Discuss

 

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In our series of guides we hope to arm you with enough information to be able to understand the legal issues and achieve your objective in the easiest way possible. Our going to court guide is in 3 parts. You can download the entire guide (see below) or you can read it here it on the site. Part one of the guide covers:

• The court process
• With notice and without notice hearings
• Completing court forms
• Writing the court statement

The court process

There are several court orders available to you, including:

• Prohibited steps order (stopping a party doing something)
• Mandatory order (making a party do something)
• Contact order (making a party allow another party contact with a child)
• Residence order (stating who a child will live with and when)

The process of applying to court and conducting proceedings varies slightly depending upon which order you are applying for and the circumstances in which it is made. The two main processes are set out below:

1. With notice hearing

(1.) Complete the relevant application and file to the relevant court. (This will depend on where you live but generally be your local County Court or Family Proceedings Court).

(2.) A copy of your application is served on other party known as the Respondent. (This will usually be the other parent of your children).

(3.) A first hearing is scheduled. Before this hearing you may be invited to attend a Cafcass meeting. This is a brief meeting with a Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service officer who is experienced in dealing with all court cases involving children. At this meeting the officer will listen to both parties and try help you to reach an agreement regarding any issues.

(4.) The first hearing will be conducted by a Judge. This hearing will briefly outline any areas of agreement and dispute. The Judge may also ask the Cafcass officer for advice on the issues in the case. It is normal for parents not to speak to the judge at this brief hearing which is really more administrative than a time to rule on issues. It is common for the judge to then ask the Cafcass officer to draft a detailed report on the case.

(5.) You may ask for an order during the interim period between first and final hearing as this can be several months. For example the judge may order weekly supervised contact while the case is still ongoing over whether you should be given unsupervised contact.

(6.) The Cafcass report will be sent to both parents once completed (though this often takes 12-16 weeks). The Cafcass officer will usually speak to both parents, any other relevant relatives, the child's school, and (dependant on the child's age) the child themselves in preparing their report. They may also observe interaction between the parents and their child/children.

(7.) The court will nearly always follow the Cafcass officer's recommendations and so many parents choose to simply implement the recommendations in the report rather than continue to argue issues in court.

(8.) If no agreement is reached, a final hearing is held. This will be conducted by a judge (not necessarily the same one as at the first hearing though). The judge will hear evidence from the parents, the Cafcass officer and any other relevant witnesses before making a decision and granting / not granting an order.

2. Without notice hearing

(1.) Complete the relevant application and file to the relevant court. (This will depend on where you live but generally be your local County Court or Family Proceedings Court). This WILL NOT normally be served on the other party where allegations by their nature need to remain secret (e.g. where it is alleged one parent is about to take the child to live abroad permanently without permission).

(2.) A first hearing is scheduled. Usually this will be urgent and so may be scheduled for the same day as the application is made. Often judges hear without notice family applications first thing, or after lunch before their ongoing cases or trials resume. If the application is extremely urgent, they may even break off whatever case they were hearing to hear your application. Only the applying party will normally be present.

(3.) The Judge will usually make a ruling on your application which will last until a final hearing is arranged with both parties present.

(4.) A final hearing will be arranged and the other party sent notice of it along with copies of your application and the decision at the without notice hearing. The judge will hear evidence from both the parents, a Cafcass officer and any other relevant witnesses before making a decision at this stage. They may then confirm or vary the interim order they made at the without notice hearing.

What will the court consider in reaching their decision?

• The wishes and feelings of the child (if they are old enough for this to be ascertained)
• The likely effect of any changes on the child
• The particular needs of the child (eg any disabilities or special needs)
• The ability of the parents or carers to meet the needs of the child
• The harm that the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering
• Any characteristics such as religion or sex that the court considers relevant
• The child's educational needs (if of schooling age)

It is important to note that the court will not make an order where the effect of not doing so is no worse than making the order. This is called the 'no order principle'. You therefore need to show in any application that the order applied for is really necessary and in the child's best interests.

Court forms

Perhaps unhelpfully the forms all have a letter and numerical code which can make choosing the right form a bit tricky. Below is a description of which orders need which forms:

• Contact Order C100 - You want to see your children but your ex partner won't let you
• Residence Order C100 - You want your children to live with you
• Anything regarding abuse C1A - You are making specific allegations of abuse of your children by a family member
• Parental Responsibility Order C1 - You want to have formal parental responsibility for your children
• Parental Responsibility Order (step-children) C(PRA2)- You want formal parental responsibility for your step-children
• Prohibited Steps Order C100 - You want to stop your ex partner doing something
• Enforcement Order C79 - You have an order but your ex partner is not complying with it
• Cancel or vary Enforcement Order C79 - You have an Enforcement Order against you and you want the court to cancel or vary it
• Care or Supervision Order C110 - This formalises the involvement required by the Local Authority in your child's care

All of these court forms are available online at: www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family/formspage

Many of the forms also have a helpful 'Notes' guide (also online to download) which will help you fill out the form. It is important that forms are filled out correctly so court time (and your money) is not wasted. Read the checklists (including those for practitioners) carefully and ensure all the essential information is completed fully and clearly.

Most forms will have a section asking:

"Why are you making this application?"

It is often tempting to write every bit of information relevant to your application in this box, and you are allowed to use additional sheets of paper if necessary. However, remember that the judge will not have long to read this application and so will want this box to just be an overview of your application.

An example:

I would like this to be reversed for the following reasons:

• My house is 10 minutes walk from the children's school. My ex partner lives 45 minutes drive away.
• I am able to take the children to school for their 8:30am start and pick them up at 4pm as I work 9am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday. My ex partner has to drop them off at breakfast club for 7:30am and pick them up from after school club at 6pm, giving them a very long day.
• My ex partner is out of an evening frequently during the week and so the children have a babysitter. It would be cheaper and more beneficial for them to spend that time with me

My ex partner says that she will alter her working hours but she has said this before and was unable to do so. She does not work Friday to Sunday and so we would both end up with more time with our children by this alteration.

You do not need to include evidence of everything alleged in this application but can refer to that in your later statement. Keep a copy of your completed form so you can refer to it at a later date if necessary.

Writing a court statement

There are specific rules about how a court statement must be written (in the Family Proceedings Rules 1991):

• On the top left of the document, put the court dealing with your case in capital letters.
• On the top right of the document put the case number (provided by the court on all correspondence to you)
• At the top, middle of the document put the names of the parties
• At the right next to the party name, label them 'Petitioner' or 'Applicant' and 'Respondent'. (The Petitioner is the person who applied for the application and the Respondent the person replying to it. The petitioner's name is always first, even if you are the Respondent.)
• In the middle put a title summarising the purpose of the document (e.g. 'Respondent's Statement about Child's Residence')
• At the end of your statement you must sign and date a declaration that you believe your statement is true and know it may be used by the court. (e.g. 'I confirm that the contents of this statement are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief, and further that I understand that this statement will be placed before the Court as evidence.')

It is up to you what exactly you put in your statement and of course this will vary depending on the purpose of the statement and the facts of your case. It is however, always a good idea to have an introduction in which you outline your reason for making the statement and what you want the court to do so it doesn't get "lost" in the rest of the content.

Evidence is key to proving the truth of anything said, so try outlining points in your statement using this formula:

General proposition:

• Point 1 - Evidence 1, Evidence 2
• Point 2 - Evidence 1, Evidence 2

For example:

Strange men invited back to the house regularly
(Statement from wife's neighbour)

Make sure you proof read your statement as this is your evidence and so you will have to stick by it in court. If you don't know something personally, say so and state how you do know it. Do not put something which you do not believe to be true (remember your signed statement). If you suddenly change this evidence in court it could make you look untruthful and damage your case.

Read on to part 2 of our guide to court which will help you create your skeleton argument and use character references effectively.

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After the Court Order: Sample Letters Part 2

After the Court Order: Sample Letters Part 1

After the Initial Court Order

Guide to Court 2: Skeleton Argument & Character References

Guide to Court 3: False Allegations, Cafcass & Representing Yourself

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