How much will family court cost me?

1. Overview

This guide is about the cost of private family court proceedings about children in England and Wales when you are paying for legal help yourself.

It does not cover divorce, dividing money and property between separating couples, or cases brought by a local authority.

How much could your case cost?

The honest answer is that it varies widely:

• a straightforward case with only a few short hearings can cost relatively little;
• a contested case can reach tens of thousands of pounds;
• a particularly complex or long running case can exceed £100,000; and
• cases costing hundreds of thousands of pounds do happen, but they are exceptional.

The total depends mainly on:

• how complicated the case becomes;
• how many hearings there are;
• whether there is a fact-finding hearing;
• whether there is a final hearing;
• how long the hearings last; and
• what type of representation you choose.

The easiest way to understand the cost is to look at how the professionals charge, then look at some worked examples.

2. The court application fee

To apply for a child arrangements order you pay a court fee of:

£270.

If you are on a low income or certain benefits, you may pay a reduced fee or nothing at all through the Help with Fees scheme.

This fee is a real cost. But in a contested case where you pay for a solicitor or a barrister, it is usually a small part of the total. Official fees can change, so check the current amount on GOV.UK before you apply.

3. Before we start: how does billing work?

Solicitors

A solicitor will normally charge:

by the hour.

You may encounter solicitor rates of roughly:

£200 to £600 per hour.

That means you are paying for the time they spend working on your case.

This can include:

• reading documents;
• writing documents;
• reading emails;
• writing emails;
• speaking to you on the telephone;
• speaking to the other side;
• completing applications;
• reviewing evidence;
• preparing for hearings; and
• dealing with the court.

Even short pieces of work add up.

If a solicitor spends ten minutes reading an email and replying to it, that time is chargeable.

If they spend three hours reviewing documents before a hearing, that time is chargeable.

If they spend a day preparing your witness statement, that time is chargeable.

Small amounts of professional time, charged again and again over the months a case runs, can add up to thousands of pounds.

When comparing professional fees, always check whether VAT and any other charges are included in the quote.

Firms bill in different ways. A solicitor may:

• ask you for money on account before starting work;
• send you bills regularly as the case continues; and
• ask for more money before doing the next stage of work.

If the money is not paid, the work can stop quickly.

Ask your solicitor exactly how they will bill you before you instruct them.

You should also not assume that a solicitor will give you a fixed price for the whole case.

Family court cases can change too much.

A case that looks simple at the beginning may later involve:

• allegations;
• witness statements;
• further applications;
• expert evidence;
• a fact-finding hearing;
• additional Cafcass work; or
• a final hearing.

Because of that, fixed quotes for an entire contested family court case are unusual.

4. How do barristers charge?

Barristers usually work differently.

Rather than billing you for every email or every few minutes of work, a barrister will usually quote:

a fee for a particular hearing or piece of work.

If you have a solicitor, the solicitor may give you a choice of barristers together with the fee each barrister will charge.

If you are using a Direct Access barrister, you may receive the quote directly from the barrister or through a booking service.

As a rough guide:

A short hearing may cost around £1,500 to £3,000.

A full hearing day may cost around:

£5,000, although fees can be lower or considerably higher depending on the barrister, the hearing and the preparation required.

The price will depend on:

• the barrister's experience;
• the complexity of the case;
• the type of hearing;
• how much preparation is needed; and
• how long the hearing is expected to last.

More experienced barristers will normally charge more.

Barrister fees will usually need to be paid:

in advance.

For a hearing that lasts several days, the total fee can become very large very quickly. If a hearing runs longer than planned, there can be further fees for the extra days.

5. How do McKenzie Friends charge?

A McKenzie Friend is someone who supports you in court. Paid McKenzie Friends set their own fees.

They usually charge either:

• by the hour;
• by the half day;
• by the full day; or
• a fixed fee for a particular piece of work.

A rough planning figure for hourly work is:

roughly £80 to £150 per hour.

Some charge less. Some charge more. This market is not regulated in the way solicitors and barristers are, so prices and quality vary.

A McKenzie Friend may charge for:

• helping you prepare for a hearing;
• reviewing documents;
• helping organise your papers;
• attending court with you;
• taking notes; and
• giving you quiet support during the hearing.

Remember that a McKenzie Friend does not normally represent you in court.

You remain responsible for your own case and will usually speak for yourself.

6. Worked example: a small number of short hearings

The figures below are Dads Who Care planning examples. They are not fixed prices, quotations or market averages. They are here to show how quickly professional fees can build as a case becomes more complicated.

Imagine a relatively straightforward case.

There are:

• a small number of hearings;
• the hearings are around one hour long;
• there is no fact-finding hearing; and
• the issues are resolved without a long final hearing.

A rough cost might look like this:

This is the kind of case where costs may remain relatively manageable.

But even a few short hearings can still become expensive once preparation and professional time are included.

7. Worked example: initial hearings, a fact-finding hearing and a final hearing

Now imagine the case becomes more disputed.

There are:

• initial hearings;
• statements to prepare;
• a fact-finding hearing;
• further preparation after the findings; and
• a final hearing.

A rough cost might look like this:

At this point, professional fees can start rising quickly.

The fact-finding hearing is often where the cost increases sharply, because there may be large amounts of evidence, witness statements, detailed preparation, questioning of witnesses and several days in court.

8. Worked example: a complex case with a fact-finding hearing lasting three days or more

Now imagine a much more complex case.

There may be:

• several hearings;
• large amounts of evidence;
• allegations;
• multiple witness statements;
• a fact-finding hearing lasting three days or more;
• further Cafcass work;
• additional applications; and
• a final hearing.

A rough cost might look like this:

And these figures can still be exceeded.

A long running family court case with multiple hearings, senior barristers, large amounts of solicitor time and additional professional evidence can move into six figures.

That is why it is important to understand the possible cost early.

9. How can a fact-finding hearing change the cost?

When a case starts, a father may expect it to involve:

• some legal advice; and
• a small number of hearings.

If one parent makes serious allegations, the other parent disputes them, and the court decides those allegations need to be resolved, the court may order a fact-finding hearing. This is a separate hearing where the court decides whether specific alleged events happened.

Once a fact-finding hearing is ordered, the case may then involve:

• a schedule setting out each allegation;
• written statements from each parent;
• statements from other witnesses;
• gathering and reviewing evidence such as messages, photographs, medical notes or police records;
• detailed preparation by a solicitor;
• separate preparation by a barrister;
• several days in court;
• further fees if the hearing runs longer than expected; and
• more work afterwards, because the findings then shape the rest of the case.

This is one of the main ways that an expectation of spending a few thousand pounds can become:

£20,000, £30,000, £50,000 or more.

Not every allegation leads to a fact-finding hearing. Many cases never have one.

But if your case does, it is usually the point where costs rise the most, so it is worth understanding early.

10. A real-world example

This is one person's experience. It is not a market average, and it is not a quote for anyone else's case. It is included to show how costs can grow as proceedings become more complicated.

In this case:

• an early estimate from a solicitor was around £15,000;
• after witness statements were prepared, the estimate rose to around £30,000;
• after further disputed proceedings, it rose again to around £45,000;
• a Direct Access barrister charged approximately £2,750 for a short hearing;
• a full hearing day was around £5,000; and
• a fact-finding hearing, originally expected to last four days, cost approximately £17,500, with further fees when it ran over.

The case did not begin looking expensive.

The cost grew as the issues became more disputed and more hearings and preparation were needed.

11. Other costs that can appear

Legal representation is not the only expense.

Expert reports

If the court decides an expert report is needed, a rough planning figure is:

around £2,500.

This is only a rough illustration. Expert costs vary a great deal depending on what assessment or testing is required. The court may direct how the cost is divided between the parties.

Independent social worker assessment

A Section 7 welfare report prepared by Cafcass, Cafcass Cymru or a local authority is not normally something the parents pay thousands of pounds for.

A separately instructed independent social worker assessment is different. If the court allows an independent social worker or another expert assessment, that may cost:

around £3,500 to £5,000.

Who pays, and in what shares, depends on the court's directions and the circumstances of the case.

Supervised contact

If contact needs to be supervised at a contact centre, a rough figure is:

£40 to £100 per hour or per session, depending on the provider.

Providers may also charge referral or registration fees, and fees for written reports. If supervised contact continues regularly over several months, the cost adds up.

Additional court applications

If you need to make a further application during the case, the court fee may be roughly:

£60 to £270, depending on the application.

Official fees can change, so check the current amount before applying.

12. Why do costs rise so quickly?

The main reason is time.

With a solicitor, every hour of work costs money.

With a barrister, every additional hearing costs money.

A case can become expensive because of:

• more documents;
• more allegations;
• more hearings;
• longer hearings;
• expert evidence;
• additional applications;
• more correspondence;
• additional statements;
• repeated Cafcass involvement; and
• hearings that run longer than expected.

A case does not need to start as a complex case to become one.

It can grow as proceedings continue.

13. Who pays the legal costs?

In private children proceedings, each parent is usually responsible for their own legal costs.

Do not assume that winning an argument, or disproving an allegation, means the other parent will have to pay your solicitor or barrister fees.

The Family Court can make a costs order in appropriate circumstances, including where someone's conduct of the proceedings has been unreasonable. But this is not the normal outcome in children cases.

When you plan your budget, it is safer to assume that your costs are your own.

14. Ways to reduce costs

You have some control over what a case costs. Options include:

• representing yourself for some or all stages of the case;
• paying for legal advice only at the points where you most need it;
• using a Direct Access barrister for specific hearings where that is suitable;
• trying mediation where it is safe and suitable;
• checking whether you qualify for Help with Fees for the court fee;
• checking whether legal aid may be available, for example where there is evidence of domestic abuse;
• asking every professional clearly how they charge before you instruct them; and
• keeping your documents and instructions organised, so professional time is not spent sorting out papers.

Representing yourself is not right for everyone. Mediation is not suitable in every case. Legal aid is not available to everyone. But it is worth checking each option rather than assuming the most expensive route is the only one.

15. The most important thing to understand

The court application fee is usually only a small part of the total cost.

The real cost is usually:

professional time.

That is why your choice of representation can make such a large difference.

A dad who represents himself and pays for help only when needed may spend a fraction of what someone using a solicitor and barrister throughout the case spends.

That does not mean one option is automatically better than another.

It means you should understand the financial consequences before deciding how you want to be represented.

For an explanation of the different options, read our separate guide:

What are my options for representation in family court?

Summary

Family court costs for a children case vary widely:

• straightforward cases can cost relatively little;
• contested cases can reach tens of thousands of pounds; and
• particularly complex or long running cases can exceed £100,000.

The biggest factors are:

• how complicated the case becomes;
• how many hearings there are;
• whether there is a fact-finding hearing;
• how long the case lasts; and
• what type of representation you use.

As a rough guide:

• solicitors may charge roughly £200 to £600 per hour;
• a barrister may charge around £1,500 to £3,000 for a short hearing;
• a barrister may charge around £5,000 for a full hearing day; and
• a paid McKenzie Friend may charge roughly £80 to £150 per hour.

The worked examples in this guide are there to help you understand the scale of the possible cost.

They are not fixed prices.

The main lesson is:

Understand how the costs build before you commit to a particular type of representation.

Understand first.

Decide second.