Family Proceedings Court

Originally written by Angela Armes, updated by the editorial team on 5th July 2026

What is the Family Court?

The Family Court is a unified court system in England and Wales that handles cases involving family matters. It was established in 2014 under the Children and Families Act, bringing together family cases that were previously spread across magistrates' courts, county courts and the High Court.

Cases in the Family Court are heard by different levels of judge depending on their complexity. Magistrates with specialist training in family law hear many of the more straightforward matters, while district judges and circuit judges handle cases that are more complex or raise serious welfare concerns.

Hearings involving children tend to be conducted with less formality than other court settings. Courtrooms may be arranged differently, and judges often avoid wearing wigs and gowns when children are present.

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Types of cases heard

The Family Court deals with a range of matters relating to children and family relationships. Some of the most common include:

Child arrangements orders, which cover where a child lives and who they spend time with
Care proceedings brought by local authorities
Adoption applications
Paternity disputes
Applications relating to parental responsibility

Child maintenance disputes are generally handled by the Child Maintenance Service rather than the Family Court, unless there are exceptional circumstances that bring them within the court's jurisdiction.

The most complex cases, or those involving international elements or significant legal questions, may be allocated to a High Court judge sitting within the Family Court.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

How the court approaches children's welfare

When making decisions about children, the court treats the child's welfare as its paramount concern. This principle applies whether the case involves living arrangements, time spent with a parent, or care proceedings.

The court may ask a Cafcass officer to prepare a report. Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, provides independent advice on what is in the best interests of the child. Officers may speak to the child, the parents and other relevant adults before making recommendations.

In care proceedings where a local authority is involved, the court will typically appoint a children's guardian to represent the child's interests directly throughout the case.

What to expect if you are involved in a case

Family court proceedings are designed to be accessible to people without legal representation. You may choose to instruct a solicitor, though legal aid is only available for certain types of family case, including care proceedings, domestic abuse cases and child abduction matters. The GOV.UK website has current information on eligibility.

Hearings are usually held in private, meaning members of the public cannot attend. This protects the privacy of the families and children involved.

If you disagree with a decision, you can apply to appeal. There are strict time limits for doing so. Grounds for appeal may include errors of law, mistakes in fact finding, serious procedural irregularities, or concerns that the hearing was conducted unfairly.

For official guidance on family court procedures, forms and fees, visit the GOV.UK website or contact your local court directly.

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48 questions

Ask Law and Parents a Question

LawAndParents Editor 05/07/2026 at 1:01 am

@Karl dent Nine years without proper contact is a very long time, and you have a right to know why your daughter is in care and what the current care plan says. Ask the local authority for a copy of the care plan and the latest LAC review minutes in writing, as you are still classed as a person with parental responsibility unless a court has said otherwise. Family Rights Group run a free advice line on 0808 801 0366 and they will talk you through your options, including applying to vary contact. Legal aid is often available for parents in care proceedings, so it is worth ringing a family solicitor too.

Karl dent 05/07/2026 at 12:22 am

Need to find why my daughter is in care I've been told very little last time I seen my daughter 9 year now feels like I'm just going round and round need help

Tim 28/12/2020 at 6:41 pm

Hi so I’ve just had my baby two months ago was never in a relationship with the dad and he from day one didn’t want anything to do with us. I never forced it but my mate said every child deserves to know their father so ultimately got him involved he sees her once a week. He’s still a stranger and everything is on my terms but I feel he’ll want more time and access with the influence of his family as he’s younger. I’ve researched my rights what do I do? Please help

Rie 01/09/2019 at 10:23 am

Please help,
My 8 week old grandson has been taken into care after taking him to hospital presenting with a strange looking bruise on his knee/thigh. The last 3 weeks have been absolutely horrendous and my son and daughter in law have been treated like criminals! We know for a fact he hasn’t been harmed by his parents, however his paternal grandmother thinks she may have accidentally done it struggling to get him in his car seat she has been questioned by police as have my son and daughter in law, no charges have been brought and we have been told our first hearing in court is Friday. We are absolutely devastated and our family is being ripped apart !
Please could anyone help or give us advise? We are heartbroken.

Al 31/07/2019 at 9:03 pm

I am so angy at social services they took my 2 granddaughters who are only young and dont understand what going on they have been in tempory foster care there mother does not care and there not allowed to live with me but the courts did say about 2 yrs ago when she only had the 1 at the time if she could not look after her she could come and stay with me but she was doing well amd then went on to have another baby and up until last month she had them.taken off her for neglect I am so angry and upset there not given family a chance social are nothing but liars it has been proven on the new

angry 13/06/2019 at 5:31 pm

Who does one go to when the family courts have been mislead by lies from the social services and make a judgement based on those lies? Lawyers say the legal aid has dried up so no help there. Layers also tell me I can't talk to ANYONE about any details of the case so basically I can't get help. In the meantime my child suffers terribly because nobody can explain why they aren't allowed to live with their family.

Dorris 04/06/2019 at 11:16 am

Hi im looking for some advice my friends father who has had his 4 yr old daughter in his care for past 2 yrs after the mother told him to leave before she got home after a argument even though she knew he was at home on his own with the little girl so he left and took her with him, since then he has recieved abuse physically and through messages week after they split she got in a new relationship but as always gave him abuse the police have been called out to her numerous times but nothing as been done, they had last year 6 court hearings reason being the mother not turning up she had papers served on her and was even close to being sent to prison for breaching the court order at the court hearings the father was granted a child arrangement order and at the final hearing in crown court a pso was put in place with only a certain amount of contact between mother n daughter with days and times and places for hand over since this the mother thinks its only a guid line to what the parents should do and has never been happy with the contact always demanding changes, they went back to court amonth ago and she was rewarded with a extra contact day and was able to swap one of the says which she asked for but now shes wanting to take it back to court for residency and some how visited the court and got another hearing date straight away which she says is for her to get residency of the little girl, my question can she just automatically go to the magistrates and have the pso overturned and get residency of their daughter, noone seems to want to help the father his solicitor as had to put a alt on representing him due to the amount of court costs due to the mother not turning up to court ect, the mother is constantly messaging not only him but friends and other family members damanding this and that and the threatens with court everytime she dosent get what she wants so what grounds would she have to get the pso overturned even though also cafcass recommended the child stays with the father on the final hearing, any advice would be much appreciated.

Clive's daughter 17/06/2018 at 11:04 pm

I'm 36 and I want to know how to start the process of my stepfather adopting me

LawAndParents Editor 06/06/2018 at 2:21 pm

If you can't agree with the mother, you may have to try mediation - this does cost, but if you don't want to go to court it may be your only option.

jimmy 05/06/2018 at 6:59 pm

my partner went six years seeing our son a maximum of 3 days a week most of the time significantly less than that. she asked for every other weekend last september and i agreed. since then my sons behaviour has declined his appetite has decreased and most recently he reported to me that he was left in a car for an hour with a phone to play with while she went to work, i want to adress this with her but she is a child and instantly cries and screams weather my son is there or not.
i dont have the finances to tae her to court for sole custody of him and ideally i wouldnt want him to never see his mother. i just need to know what is best to do

LawAndParents Editor 13/11/2017 at 12:10 pm

If you can agree this between you that's fine, if not, the courts will decide. You both have equal "rights" in the sense that one of you needs to be the main carer.

paulc 10/11/2017 at 2:11 pm

My wife is alcohol dependant and has recently had to move out of our marital home because of her behaviour. We have 3 children aged 4,15 & 21 she is living with her mum&dad with our 4 year old at the moment.What are my rights with regards to remaining in the family home with my other 2 children, I am happy to have my 4 year old with me as well if needs be ?

LawAndParents Editor 02/10/2017 at 2:47 pm

A person with Parental Responsibility cannot transfer his responsibility to someone else but PRcan be "shared" with another person. He would need to talk to social services about this.

Ollie 29/09/2017 at 5:49 pm

Hi, I'm looking for some advice. I was recently made aware my nephew is on child protection order due to his mother putting him in dangerous situations with her partner, my brother (nephews biological father) doesn't have contact with his son, he has been separated from my nephews mother for 7 years but still not got divorced. Since having a meeting with my nephews social worker and my brother confirming he does not wish to have contact with him, my brother has said he would like to hand over his rights to his son to myself, but I'm unsure on how this would work, can my brother hand over his rights to myself if so how do we make this happen?

Moby 27/08/2017 at 12:34 pm

My 3 youngest girls have been in foster care from July 2016,they are all separated,the social worker has said they have agreed to get permanency,contact is once a week supervised,there are no drug/alcohol issues e.t.c,I have not been to court or seen any paper work regarding this & I feel social services are just dragging this on,my girls keep asking when there coming home is there anything I can do about this situation ,yours greatfully,Nicola x

LawAndParents Editor 16/05/2017 at 2:18 pm

If she refuses to attend mediation, a court order may be necessary in order to resolve the child arrangements and finances. You cannot be forced to move out by your wife especially as she is the "guilty party" in the divorce.

Boggy 15/05/2017 at 3:16 pm

Hi Have a very complicated questions
I received a divorce petition in Feb 17 from my wife of 20 years with 5 children ages7 - 19 on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown. I decided to defend it myself as I had suspected this was not the real reason as my suspicions had been aroused as long ago as October when I was refused access to the marital bed following a bad cold . I have since found out that she is indeed involved in another relationship but she does not know that I know as I have decided to keep quiet for the sake of the children.
Needless to say things are becoming more toxic by the day and she wants me to move out immediately but as I had a mini stroke last july loosing my driving licence my options are fairly limited
I have 2 partime jobs locally where i have to walk to which nett about £800.00per month and I pay he 650 - 700 pcm
Recently she has now said that she will not cook for me or do any of my washing so I have to eat seperately from the family in front of the children which is causing great sadness to them and they have always been my / our main priority
Obviously there is a lot more to this but waht are my options or where can I go for help.
I have started mediation as of today she refused to come and therefore they are going to write to her with an invitation.
Hope you can help for the sake of my kids
Andy

LawAndParents Editor 22/02/2017 at 12:43 pm

We really can't advise you on this. It might be worth seeking help with your drink problems first and proving that you can remain in control and sober before making contact again with your girlfriend.

Rob 19/02/2017 at 11:00 pm

Hello, I have a problem where in the past I have drunk argued and punched a hole in the wall of my girlfriends home inwhich she has a 3 year old daughter, the police were called but nothing came of it, I don't normally drink and this was a huge misunderstanding, I didn't put her daughter in danger but thats not the case in my girlfriends ex partners eyes. Social services told her this could never happen again and it was her last chance and that she'd have to choose me over her daughter because her ex partner now has ammunition. The problem is it happened again, after a night out on my aunties 50th birthday, while her daughter was at her dad's house 2hours away, me and my girlfriend was out and I got in a bit of a fight at this club and so she went home. By the time I got home she wouldnt let me in and I got so frustrated where I was so drunk I kicked the door in. We had a big argument and i caused some criminal damage and we was pushing eachother out the way and I ended up pushing her and because she was so drunk she fell down the stairs and broke the bannister, (she wasn't hospitalised at all she just bruised her arm). She then phoned the last number in her call list which was her ex boyfriend and he called the police and I got arrested. Now she's saying she has to press charges for her daughters sake and everything which I understand because I totally messed up. I didn't mean for this to happen but it did. It was the first time I drank in 5/6months, as a result I've decided to quit drinking and get some help and what not because there is clearly a problem there. We still love eachother very much and I know I can sort myself out and not let this ever happen again but currently i'm on bail which means no contact. The problem I have got is that her ex boyfriend is saying if he finds out we're back together he will take her to court and gain custody of her daughter as he also have 50 50 rights, if we was to get back together I would not be visiting while his daughter was there and my girlfriend would come see me on the weekends at my house until things get better, but because of these two incidents is he able to go to court gain custody?. Social services also said that we were already on our last warning, but surely if they see that I'm getting the help and never going to let this happen again then theres something we can do? I feel so powerless because I love her more than anything and feel like she shouldn't have to choose? I'm 19 years old and she's 22 and we have a really good relationship on a day to day basis, we've been together a year and it's all gone to shambles because I have just made 2 major mistakes which I'm never going to let happen again. Theres a lot more to this and it's so complicated to type it all up on here but I really need some advice because we don't want to throw our relationship away over 2 really stupid mistakes.

Chome 27/12/2016 at 11:12 am

My partner has split from his daughters mum we have his daughter every two weeks there is a court order in place to say he can have his little girl every two weeks and days in the holiday. When it comes to taking his little girl home she gets very upset and scared and begs us not to take her home as her step father shouts and is aggressive towards her what can be done about taking her back ?

lee 15/11/2016 at 8:58 am

hi i am seeking advice, i have a son of 12 yrs old. whilst i was pregnant father claimed baby was not his. therefore we broke all ties. father has been absent since. now my son is of age and has asked me to find his father as he would like to meet him. i found his father on facebook and the father now wants to meet my son. i would like for them to have some kind of a relationship , but now i would like to know that after all these years of no contact or him trying to find his son, what rights does he have?
please can anyone give me advice?
thank you

Epistasis 21/10/2016 at 6:02 pm

My partner and i are separating. She is from Poland and i believe she will try to leave the country with my children and not tell me where she is taking them. Is there anything i can do to stop her taking the children out of the country?

Dilys 05/10/2016 at 8:44 pm

Hi,my ex is insisting on doing a C100 and CB1 even though we have come to a childcare agreement for our daughter. What will happen if I refuse to sign as we already have an arrangement in place? I understand it could be something to consider in future should one of us break the agreement. If it helps I am the mother and our daughter is living with me. My ex takes her to school 2 days and has agreed to look after her 1 weekend a month and can see her any other time inbetween should he wish to.

LawAndParents Editor 15/09/2016 at 2:06 pm

We assume you are the grandparents. Your son can make an application for shared residence or full residence (you only pay the cost of the application). It would be more useful for you to try and work out how both parents can care for their child. Is there anything you can do to work with social services etc to help the child's mother find suitable accommodation?

Joan 14/09/2016 at 3:08 pm

My son is currently living with me with his 1 year old son. He split with babies mum a week ago and she left to go back to her mums home with is unfit for my grandson to live in (social services decision) now she wants to see the baby and were worried she may take him if we go to meet her as she has said she has a safe place to take the baby now and we've been told she could just take him and it wouldn't be illegal. My son can't get legal aid as it does not apply to this kind of case. We're at our wits end. Any advice would help please

tricky dicky 02/08/2016 at 10:03 am

Are applications under Part four of the family law act 1996 ie applications for non-molestation orders defined as family proceedings or civil proceedings and can the Court hearing an application for a non-mol order a section 37 report?

LawAndParents Editor 30/06/2016 at 10:45 am

Who has the children at the moment?

Nikki 28/06/2016 at 6:49 pm

OK my kids r getting older and they trying to come back home with me the age 17,14,11 so I was trying to see how do I go about getting them back what steps I need to take

LawAndParents Editor 26/04/2016 at 11:44 am

Have you tried the Family Rights Group Helpline?

Min 25/04/2016 at 12:21 pm

I won't to get my kids back and don't know where to go

LawAndParents Editor 02/12/2015 at 2:31 pm

Call your local social services department and ask them to give you some information on what is happening. You could also try Citizen's Advice or the Family Lives Helpline

Kate scoot 01/12/2015 at 1:02 am

My 2 boys got took from me due to drugs allegedly found in my premises by police that I allowed in to search.Esp. when I'm already terrified they start shouting, so I'm in a total state of shock. The following week social workers said to police they where to take the boys aged 3n6years old.I'm facing drug charges and that's over a month I haven't heard a word from my son's, the police or even social work. Where can I get some advise and help as I've been left to figure it all out.I have never been known for drugs in my life.

LawAndParents Editor 15/10/2015 at 1:03 pm

Start by finding a mediation service to see if you can reach a mutually acceptable agreement with the child's mother. If that doesn't succeed a court order (using form C100) should be sought.

lorrain 14/10/2015 at 7:32 pm

How do we start off about going for full custody of my husband child who is 13 and clearly wants to live with us

Arina 04/09/2015 at 11:33 am

Hey how do i make my mums friend my legall guardian without will.We are flying to india soon and i am underage but how do i make her my guardian?

LawAndParents Editor 03/03/2015 at 9:55 am

@Rach86. Here's how to change the name of your child without the consent of an absent father. It's extremely difficult to get parental responsibility removed but if he really has absolutely no contact or interest in contact then most decisions will continue to be made by you without interference anyway.

Rach86 26/02/2015 at 7:59 pm

My ex and I split 6years ago he has no contact by choice and I have not been able to contact him. We have never received a penny from him in maintenance. I don't know where he is in apart from New Zealand. He is named on the birth certificate can I get a court order so I can make the descions in my sons life without being asked for the fathers consent eg change of surname etc?

LawAndParents Editor 10/11/2014 at 12:58 pm

@Jo. This is probably something that you should let the courts decide if you cannot come to any amicable agreement with your ex partner.

Jo 08/11/2014 at 12:01 am

I have legal guardianship of my grandson I'm about to divorce,can I be forced to sell my home or do I have the right to remain until my grandson is 18.

Bessie 03/03/2014 at 11:41 am

My son and I plan to immigrate with my husband to Canada as he is Canadian. the Canadian Immigration stated they need to know that I have fully custody of my son. My son's Biological father lives in Thailand, we were never married. but his name does appear on my son's birth certificate. Do you know how I should apply for a fully custody?

cookie 16/09/2013 at 7:08 am

Where do i stand if during a court case regarding the schooling of my children and well eventually the residence of the children, if there is a panel of three magistrates and one leaves during the case, can i raise this as i feel the decision made could well have been very different to the one given, i am a desperate mother who just wants what is best for her and i need to fight the decision made as they are allowing two neglectful people to look after myy boys

myriam 29/04/2013 at 12:44 pm

hi my mum want to be came a legal guardian for my children what did she need to do and how long take to does thank you

carol 31/05/2012 at 8:16 pm

i have the care of my 4year old grandson living with me to which social services and social workers authorised.they stated they were happy with his living situation but we have been ordered with a court of care order to which we are not allowed to be involved with.do you know what all this means and why we can be at court but cannot be invilved with its proceedings please. thankyou

charliey 31/05/2012 at 7:44 pm

hey,what does it mean when the city council apply to the court for an order?? as r not to sure as what this means thankyou

jenna 11/10/2011 at 1:34 pm

Hi, I have recently seperated from my husband and have applied for child maintenance, but I have been told that I should receive maintenance for miself as he works full time as a british soldier and I am left struggling on my own with a baby on benefits. Could you tell me if this is true and what I am entitled to claim? Thankyou

Julie 14/07/2011 at 4:34 pm

Hello, I need information on child temporary gurdian, my niece is going to live with me for a year.Thank you

LawAndParents 18/04/2011 at 2:39 pm

Thanks Chris, we've altered the article now.

Chris 16/04/2011 at 9:56 am

The practice of magistrates being elected by their colleagues (at least in England and Wales) has not been used for some considerable time. The process now is for JP's who are considering joining the FPC panel to apply for an interview to the Bench Training and Development Committee. Just an amplification on the make up of a bench of 3 magistrates: The composition has to be mixed gender.

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