I AM L.I.P

I AM L.I.P

I am a Litigant In Person

A Basic Step By Step Account Of The Whole Court Process of Child Arrangements including Making the Initial Child Arrangements Application and Responding to an Application

 

If you and your ex-partner cannot agree child arrangements or cannot resolve a dispute regarding the upbringing of your child(ren) between yourselves or through mediation, then you will need to go through the court process. You can hire solicitors and barristers, which will be expensive, or you can become a litigant in person – a person involved in court proceedings and is not represented by a solicitor or barrister. Today, many people choose the latter option because they cannot afford solicitors, are not entitled to legal aid, or do not want to end up in debt. This Help Guide will take you step by step through the court process so you are aware what to expect.

This page has been written in a simple manner so you can get a basic overview of the court process. If you require more detail on a particular matter or section you will be given the links to take you there. 

Steps 1 – 6 below detail how to make an application to start court proceedings for child arrangements and step 7 details how to respond to your ex-partners child arrangements application.

The application form to start court proceedings for child arrangements is called form C100 which will be discussed in step 4 below.

You can start the court process of child arrangements and submit your from C100 to the family court before, during or after a divorce. Child arrangements can be sorted out at any time whether there is or there is not a divorce.

STEP 1 – PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FULFILLED THE LEGAL REQUIREMENT OF MEDIATION BEFORE YOU START COURT PROCEEDINGS FOR CHILD ARRANGEMENTS 

It is the law in the UK that all individuals have to attend mediation (in person or online) to resolve child arrangements first before applying to the courts to resolve these matters.

You are exempt if you are a victim of domestic violence. 

You are also exempt if you are applying for a court order where mediation attendance is not required. An example of this is when you are asking the court to formalise/approve a draft consent order for child arrangements agreed by both you and your ex-partner. 

Please read our help guide for form C100 where it will go into detail which sections of the form you need to complete is you have attended mediation and it has failed or you are exempt. 

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR MEDIATION

STEP 2 – REMEMBER EVERY FORM YOU WILL NEED THROUGHOUT YOUR CHILD ARRANGEMENTS CASE IS AVAILABLE FOR FREE

The government provides all forms and leaflets involved in every part of the court process for child arrangements on its website for FREE. There will be a link to all these government forms whenever you read about them on our L.I.P website.

STEP 3 –  REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT ALONE – THERE IS HELP AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO COMPLETE YOUR FORM C100 AND ANY OTHER ASSOCIATED FORMS

  • The government guides CB1 – ‘making an application to the children and the family courts’ – and CB7 – ‘guide for separated parents: children and the family courts’ – will help you complete form C100.

LINK TO GOVERNMENT GUIDE CB1

LINK TO GOVERNMENT GUIDE CB7

  • This website contains a Help Guide for form C100. Once you have read this page, you can click on the link below to access form C100 where it will go into detail how to complete it.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100

  • On pages 23-26 of form C100, there are guidance notes how to complete form C100.

STEP 4 – COMPLETE FORM C100 TO START COURT PROCEEDINGS FOR CHILD ARRANGEMENTS

The first step in the court process of sorting out child arrangements is to complete form C100. You can apply online or post a paper copy.

Only one of you (you or your ex-partner) can complete and submit form C100. If you are doing this then from now on you will be known as the applicant or petitioner and your ex-partner will be known as the respondent in these proceedings.

As stated above this website has a Help Guide for form C100. Once you have read this page, you can click on the link below to access form C100 where it will go into detail how to complete it and where to send it. The topics covered are  – 

  • What is form C100 used for?
  • Are there any government or our own L.I.P Help Guides or write ups to help you complete form C100?
  • What is the fee to send form C100 to the court and how to pay for it?
  • How to complete form C100 and where to send it.
  • Where can you find form C100/download this form?
  • When was form C100 first published and last updated?

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100

STEP 5 – SORT OUT PAYMENT FOR SUBMITTING YOUR FORM C100

There is a fee to send form C100 to the family court. For details how to pay please go to our Help Guide for form C100 and read the section ‘What is the fee to send form C100 to the court and how to pay it?’. Please click on the link below to access form C100.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C100

STEP 6 – REMEMBER HOW YOU AND YOUR EX-PARTNER WILL BE LEGALLY KNOWN FROM NOW ON IN COURT PROCEEDINGS

As stated in step 3 if you are the person who completes and submits form C100 you will be known as the applicant or petitioner.  Your ex-partner will be known as the respondent

STEP 7 -THE COURT WILL SEND YOUR EX-PARTNER A COPY OF YOUR FORM C100 AND FORM C7 

Once you have sent your C100 application to your local family court that deals with child arrangements they will send a court stamped copy of your form C100 to your ex-partner. They will also send form C7 to your ex-partner to complete and return. Your ex-partner must return form C7 within 14 days.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C7

Your local court will then contact you and your ex-partner, informing both of you of the date and time of the first appointment  which you both must attend. It is called the FHDRA (first hearing dispute resolution appointment) and will be about 4-6 weeks after the court has received your initial form C100 application.

This court order will state that both you and your ex-partner (and any solicitors you may have) must arrive at the court at least 1 hour before the hearing so that both parties can communicate, discuss issues and perhaps reach agreements. 

STEP 8 – THE INVOLVEMENT OF CAFCASS

Once your child arrangements case has started, the court will contact Cafcass. Cafcass are the children & families court advisory & support service. They will go through your form C100 and your form C1A if you have completed one. Form C1A is a supplementary form sent along with your form C100 to the court giving details of domestic violence. This is explained in our help guide for form C100. Please click on the link above. 

Cafcass will also contact the police to do background checks on you and your ex-partner and contact social services to see if you, your ex-partner, and the children are known to them. Cafcass will send both you and your ex-partner a letter informing you of a date and time for a telephone interview to discuss your application and any safety concerns within the family. 

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C1A

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR CAFCASS 

STEP 9 – THE FHDRA APPOINTMENT – ABOUT 30 MINUTES 

The FHDRA (first hearing dispute resolution appointment) can also be referred to as a directions hearing in some cases or by some people. At this appointment, both you and your ex-partner, a Cafcass officer, and sometimes a judge or magistrate, will be present. If there is a magistrate, a legal adviser will be present. They will go over any safeguarding issues and try to get you and your ex-partner to resolve child arrangements between yourselves. If an agreement can be reached between you and your ex-partner then these decisions will be written up into a court order and all court proceedings finish here.

If an agreement cannot be reached between you and your ex-partner then court directions will be given as what you and your ex-partner must do in preparation for the next hearing so a solution can be found. 

In cases of domestic violence, the judge/magistrate and Cafcass will have read your form C100 and your supplementary form C1A (detailing domestic violence). In these cases the judge/magistrate may ask – 

  • Cafcass to prepare a report. However, this is dependent on the case and the judge.

And/or

  • For you to complete a Scott Schedule. This is a table on an A4 sheet of paper on which you set out allegations of domestic violence. The judge/magistrate will give you a date and time by which you must complete it and send a copy to the court and to your ex-partner. Your ex-partner will complete their response on the same Scott Schedule and send it back to the court and to yourself. The judge/magistrate will specify a date and time by which your ex-partner must do this. You will be required to attach a witness statement and any evidence giving further details to support your allegations. Your ex-partner can attach a witness statement and evidence explaining their answer on the Scott Schedule to your allegations. 

And/or

  • For you and your ex-partner to provide written statements and evidence outlining issues between you both or further details of domestic violence so that the judge/magistrate and Cafcass can look further into your case

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO SCOTT SCHEDULE

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR YOUR WITNESS STATEMENT EXPLAINED

A date and time will be given by the judge/magistrate for the next court hearing which is called a fact finding hearing (FFH). Occasionally, when there are no allegations of domestic violence then the next hearing could be listed as a dispute resolution appointment (DRA) hearing. There is no hard and fast rule – it will depend upon your case.

STEP 10 – THE FACT FINDING HEARING (FFH) – ABOUT HALF A DAY

The next court hearing is called a fact finding hearing. This is where a judge/magistrate will determine whether allegations made are true or not. A judge/magistrate will look at the scott schedule, statements and evidence from both you and your ex-partner if they were asked for at the previous hearing and decide if a Cafcass report is required. If it is this report is called a section 7 report and will take 12 weeks to prepare. 

To prepare a section 7 report, Cafcass may interview yourselves and the children in their offices. Further witness statements and evidence may be requested by the court from both you and your ex-partner. A date and time will be set for the next court hearing, which is called a dispute resolution appointment (DRA).

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR SECTION 7 REPORT (This Help Guide will also give you an insight into other reports that can be ordered by the court)

The court will try and encourage you and your ex-partner to reach an agreement. If you both do then these decisions will be written up into a court order and all court proceedings will end here. If not then your case will progress to the next stage – the DRA.

STEP 11 – DISPUTE RESOLUTION APPOINTMENT (DRA)

A judge or magistrate will preside over this hearing. A legal adviser will be present if it is a magistrate. The recommendations in the Cafcass section 7 report will be taken into consideration as well as statements and evidence from both you and your ex-partner.

If the case is not settled or concluded here at the DRA then either further directions will be given for another dispute resolution appointment or a final hearing date given. If the judge or magistrate orders a final hearing then the judge will ask you, if you are the applicant (the person who started the court proceedings for child arrangements), to prepare –

  • A bundle for the final hearing – a file of all the court paperwork in the case.

  • A position statement. 

  • A simple chronology – dates of events that have happened.

If you are a litigant in person and your ex-partner has a solicitor, then it will be your ex-partner’s solicitor’s job to provide all the requested statements and documents. Remember that the index of all bundles have to be agreed by both sides. However, you can also prepare their own bundle, position statement, summary, and chronology and submit it to the court and to ex-partner and their solicitor. A date and time will be set for the next court hearing which is called the final hearing.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR HOW TO PREPARE A BUNDLE FOR COURT 

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR YOUR POSITION STATEMENT EXPLAINED

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR YOUR CHRONOLOGY EXPLAINED  

STEP 12 – THE FINAL HEARING (SOMETIMES CALLED A TRIAL)

At the final hearing, a court order will be made deciding what you and your ex-partner can and cannot do with regards to the children.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHILD ARRANGEMENT COURT ORDERS EXPLAINED

THERE ARE 6 IMPORTANT POINTS YOU MUST KNOW 

  • POINT 1 – At any stage during the above hearings an agreement between you and your ex-partner can be reached. If Cafcass are involved then they will need to be informed and perhaps be involved. This agreement can be written into a draft consent agreement which the court can formalise/approve into a legally binding consent order/court order if the judge agrees.
  • POINT 2 – If at any time during these court proceedings the court has asked you and your ex-partner to submit any witness or position statements, other documents or evidence by a specified date and time, you both must do so otherwise this is regarded as contempt of court. If you have a good reason why you cannot comply then you must explain this to the court at the next hearing. 

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR YOUR WITNESS STATEMENT EXPLAINED

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C120 – witness statement template for child arrangements

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR YOUR POSITION STATEMENT EXPLAINED

  • POINT 3 – It is not obligatory to do so but you can if you wish take a position statement with you on the day of your hearing and ask the usher to give a copy to the judge and to your ex-partner or their solicitor. Your position statement will ensure important points are not missed during the hearing especially if the hearing is rushed. Please click on the link below to learn about position statements.
 
  • POINT 4 – You can if you wish submit a bundle (a bundle are all the documents involved in your divorce case in one place such as an A4 file) to the court before every hearing to help the judge. 
  • POINT 5 – During your child arrangements court case you may want to ask the court for directions to move your case along or want the court to make an interim court order that is relevant to your case. You may also want to ask for emergency court orders. Once your court case is finished you may want to vary/amend, enforce or want to court to do something if there has been a breach of the court order. To do this you will also need to make applications to the court. Please click the link below which will take you to the webpage detailing which form you will need for which application.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR THE MAIN FORMS YOU WILL NEED IN THE COURT PROCESS FOR CHILD ARRANGEMENTS

  • POINT 6 – DIRECTIONS HEARING – If you or your ex-partner submit an application to the court that cannot be dealt with on paper (without a court hearing) or the court needs to speak to both parties for whatever reason then the court will order a directions hearing to discuss these matters. At a directions hearing the judge will review the case and any applications made and give directions as to the next steps to progress the case forward. 

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?

  • Re-read this step by step account. Make notes if you need to or a diagram with arrows taking you through the process.
  • Read the rest of Help Guide 4 – Child Arrangements – and familiarise yourself with which forms you will need for what reason, appealing, Cafcass, court orders, McKenzie friends and co-parenting.