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Self Representing

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Adam

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Hi
I have two children (6 , 9 Years) the youngest is ASD and Global developmental delays.

Currently the divorce is in progress the financial order might take another 6-12 months.

Currently I am the primary carer for the children.mum rarley does any work for them.
I pay for more than 95% of kids expenses and take them for all the classes and hospital visits etc

The mediation didn't work. I went for MIAM meeting but ex is not joining, mediation will give a certificate soon.

Also I have asked local Council help/ safety for my child,as I am managing difficult to cope office work and child maintenance.

My question is1) can I represent my self from start to end for the Child Arrangements Order with inbetween solicitor advice.
2) is Barister needed ? Or I can represent ?
3) how much cost for barister

As per discussions it looks like if I go through solicitors it will cost £30k and this is going to continue with more expenses until children are upto 16/18
 
I personally wouldn't bother with a solicitor. Waste of money and majority you can just do yourself anyway, especially the paperwork etc.

Barrister is where to put your cash to, especially a final hearing. You could do the first few hearing yourself, unless it's complex. But in my experience nothing really gets resolved first few hearings anyway.

Costs about 800-1000 for an hour hearing.
 
If you Google direct access barristers in your area then it should come up with some options. Or Family Law Chambers and then email the Clerk direct.

They would be able to give you a rough estimate I think, but in my own experience would need a court date to see who is free. More experienced barristers cost more.

I'm sure others can chip in with their own advice.
 
coggers1980 said:
I personally wouldn't bother with a solicitor. Waste of money and majority you can just do yourself anyway, especially the paperwork etc.

Barrister is where to put your cash to, especially a final hearing. You could do the first few hearing yourself, unless it's complex. But in my experience nothing really gets resolved first few hearings anyway.

Costs about 800-1000 for an hour hearing.
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i have my FHDRA end of Jan 2025, the court papers came by email by an administrative officer. the docs doesn't specify how to send my position statement. how do i send my position statement doc? by email to the court to the same email ID they sent the court papers?
 
Adam said:
i have my FHDRA end of Jan 2025, the court papers came by email by an administrative officer. the docs doesn't specify how to send my position statement. how do i send my position statement doc? by email to the court to the same email ID they sent the court papers?
Click to expand...

Writing a position statement - childlawadvice.org.uk

Attending court can be a daunting prospect, especially if you are representing yourself. It is important that you are well prepared in order to fully present your case to the Court; one way of achieving this is to write a position statement. This information page will describe how to write a...
childlawadvice.org.uk childlawadvice.org.uk

I've never actually submitted one, and have decided to pay for a barrister to help write mine for my final hearing!

Above implies it's pretty straightforward, and I'm sure others can chip in and advise.
 
Adam said:
i have my FHDRA end of Jan 2025, the court papers came by email by an administrative officer. the docs doesn't specify how to send my position statement. how do i send my position statement doc? by email to the court to the same email ID they sent the court papers?
Click to expand...

Yes, basically.

Your Position Statement will be signed so just 'lock' it in a *PDF. There is free software to do that.

If there is any doubt about who you senx it to but you know your court you can search it on the gov.uk website and get the family email address from there. Generally, if it the email has the word 'family' in it, then it's the one you email to.

To legally file a document, you email it to all parties involved in the court case. Sending it to the court files it with them and you have to cc it to the other side and CAFCASS/the local authority social services/guardian/solicitor for the children, or whoever else is involved. You do not then need to copy by post or provide duplicates.

You can search a list of courts (and relevant emails) here:

Find a Court or Tribunal - GOV.UK

www.find-court-tribunal.service.gov.uk www.find-court-tribunal.service.gov.uk
 
Do you thin
coggers1980 said:

Writing a position statement - childlawadvice.org.uk

Attending court can be a daunting prospect, especially if you are representing yourself. It is important that you are well prepared in order to fully present your case to the Court; one way of achieving this is to write a position statement. This information page will describe how to write a...
childlawadvice.org.uk childlawadvice.org.uk

I've never actually submitted one, and have decided to pay for a barrister to help write mine for my final hearing!

Above implies it's pretty straightforward, and I'm sure others can chip in and advise.
Click to expand...

Do you think you need a barrister for that? Unless there are specific aspects of the law you feel that need addressing?
 
I think at most you will need a barrister. There will be a question about preparation of the bundle if neither of you is represented but put that aside for now.

It's best to post on here I think and seek advice at each stage but in my case i panicked as my ex made allegations against me and I spent a lot of money early on fighting those in family Court.

It might help to say that I currently have an application for a CAO to move my childen and I've represented myself for years. I have a final hearing next year and there is a small chance I may seek representation for that but ultimately if your application is not overly complicated with allegations and counter allegations it may well be possible to represent yourself for most of it.
 
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self rep and save your money for a barrister for the final hearing, so that you can get it written up, not the other side. Solicitors will simply want to hang it out and make money. Family court are very accustomed to people self repping, it is seen as the default position and you won't be treated less favourably and it wont influence the final outcome.
 
NewcastleBrownAle said:
self rep and save your money for a barrister for the final hearing, so that you can get it written up, not the other side. Solicitors will simply want to hang it out and make money. Family court are very accustomed to people self repping, it is seen as the default position and you won't be treated less favourably and it wont influence the final outcome.
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Personal experience tells me the point in particular Labour solicitors is very true.
 
I dont know about other cases but I have my final hearing in March and as I do not have a solicitor I have recently been told in a letter from the courts that one will be assigned to me.
I presume this is free.
 
Have you had the Cafcass safeguarding letter yet? And if so what does it recommend? Assume you have, if you already have a date for FHDRA. Depending on what it says, might help decide whether you need a barrister for the first hearing or not. If the safeguarding letter is fairly straightforward and no welfare issues, then you could self rep for the FHDRA. They are difficult decisions. If you do have a barrister for FHDRA there is a chance that lawyers could negotiate a consent order at FHDRA and the matter go no further. On the other hand, if your ex isn't represented then there may not be any negotiations. Hence difficult decisions.

If and when you're looking for a barrister, I have been keeping a list of barristers that Dads have used and been happy with - for various regions, if you want to PM me.

I agree with not using solicitors. If you wanted to occasionally use a solicitor for a one off job - eg doing a bundle for a final hearing - then that is an option. Otherwise Barristers are best for hearings. They tend to charge a fixed fee which is not cheap. A good one will probably be about £2000 for a DRA and double that for a full day final hearing. However, in total that would then only be about 6k plus vat. Whereas you could run up thousands using a solicitor and they don't really achieve much - just charge you for sending loads of letters or reading emails. Results happen at hearings.
 
i have my final hearing end of April.
if i want to have a Barrister- do i have to tell the other side? can i keep secret until the court hearing? is the Barrister details needed in bundle day before to be sent?

is it good if Barrister prepares the witness statement and position statement or my legal advisor ?
then I need the barrister at least one month before (witness statement need to be submitted 21 days before the hearing ) is this normal?
 
Hi. If it’s a direct access barrister then no you don’t have to tell the other side. Sometimes people only inform the court they are represented the day before the hearing. The Barrister may ask you to inform the court and the other side a couple of days before the hearing though - depending on the barrister.. I would leave it as late as possible.

Barristers don’t do paperwork/admin however. That is a solicitors job. So they wouldn’t help write a final statement. You’d need to do that side of things yourself. They will sometimes look over your statement though before you send it in and say if it’s ok or if there is a glaring point missing or that shouldn’t be there.

What they will do is write their own position statement/skeleton argument for the hearing on your behalf. And they will need a copy of your final statement as well. Your final statement is your evidence and has evidence attached. And yes it’s fairly standard there is a date to submit and exchange the final statement well before the hearing.

Your order should have a date and time statements are to be exchanged by. The important thing there is that your ex doesn’t see your statement before you see hers (or vice versa) or she could change hers. They can’t be charged once submitted to court.

The tricky thing there is sometimes and ex or their solicitor can be difficult about exchange and you can’t trust them to say, keep to an agreed exchange time.

So what some Dads do is send their statement to the other side password protected. They can’t see it until you give them the password and you can’t draw it back again once sent so effectively that is exchanged but you only give them the password once you’ve received ex’s statement. And you’d need to email and say you’ll send their statement password when you receive ex’s. You also send it to the court by the deadline too. That is the importabt bit.

After instructing a direct access barrister there is usually minimal communication with/from them until the hearing. Unless you pay extra for a consultation. You can usually just send them one email and attach everything you think they need to know. Any documents etc and it’s a good idea to write a brief summary of the situation what the issues are and what you need to try and achieve for your child’s benefit - and attach that to the email as well. Your basically paying for them to represent you at the hearing and prepare their case so don’t expect them to do email chat are reply to emails!
 
Ash said:
Hi. If it’s a direct access barrister then no you don’t have to tell the other side. Sometimes people only inform the court they are represented the day before the hearing. The Barrister may ask you to inform the court and the other side a couple of days before the hearing though - depending on the barrister.. I would leave it as late as possible.

Barristers don’t do paperwork/admin however. That is a solicitors job. So they wouldn’t help write a final statement. You’d need to do that side of things yourself. They will sometimes look over your statement though before you send it in and say if it’s ok or if there is a glaring point missing or that shouldn’t be there.

What they will do is write their own position statement/skeleton argument for the hearing on your behalf. And they will need a copy of your final statement as well. Your final statement is your evidence and has evidence attached. And yes it’s fairly standard there is a date to submit and exchange the final statement well before the hearing.

Your order should have a date and time statements are to be exchanged by. The important thing there is that your ex doesn’t see your statement before you see hers (or vice versa) or she could change hers. They can’t be charged once submitted to court.
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Thanks for the long reply. when you submit the witness statement say 14 days before hearing, is this the final statement? or you need a position statement and bundle day before hearing?
 
The witness statement is also called "final statement" yes - for the final hearing. You can still do a position statement as well, just before the hearing - which your barrister will probably do. But you can only attach evidence to the witness/final statement. That is your important statement and you can be cross examined on it so it needs to be 100% accurate and truthful. Better to leave something out than say something that might not be 100% accurate. The idea of attaching evidence is to PROVE what you're saying in the statement. So the statement becomes your evidence.

A position statement is a different thing. As for the bundle - does the order not say when the bundle has to be submitted? It's ususally at least a few days before the hearing. But a position statement doesn't have to be in the bundle - it can be a last minute thing. Both witness statements do need to be in the bundle. Does your ex have a solicitor? If so, her solicitor will be doing the bundle. If not, then you would do the bundle.
 
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