Court Fees – Proceedings under the Children Act 1989

The Custody Minefield Factsheets – Smartphone Series (optimised for smartphone users). Copyright Michael Robinson 2010, 2011. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's printer for Scotland.

Return to the Family Law Menu or return to The Custody Minefield

For most applications to the family courts:

Applications for parental responsibility, for a residence, contact, prohibited steps, specific issue or enforcement order, the fee is £200.

A full list of fees payable under section 2.1 of the Family Proceedings (Amendment) Order 2010 are set out below

2.1 On an application for an order in form C1 or form C100 (free standing application), form C79 (application related to enforcement of a contact order), form C2 (application in existing proceedings) or a request for permission to apply for an order in form C2 under the following provisions of the Children Act 1989—

(a)   section 4(1)(c) or (3), 4A(1)(b) or (3)(e) (parental responsibility); £200

(b)   section 4ZA (1)(c) or (6)(f) (parental responsibility); £200

(c)   section 5(1) or 6(7) (guardians); £200

(d)   section 10(1) or (2) (section 8 orders); £200

(e)   section 11J(2)(g) (enforcement orders); £200

(f)    section 11O(2)(h) (compensation for financial loss); £200

(g)   section 13(1) (change of child’s surname or removal from jurisdiction while residence order in force); £200

(h)   section 14A(3) or (6)(a), 14C(3) or 14D(1)(i) (special guardianship orders); £160

(i)    section 25 (secure accommodation order); £170

(j)    section 33(7) (change of child’s surname or removal from jurisdiction while care order in force); £170

(k)   section 34(2), (3), (4) or (9) (contact with child in care); £170

(l)    section 36(1) (education supervision order); £170

(m)  section 39 (variation or discharge etc of care and supervision orders);

(n)   section 43(1) (child assessment order); £170

(o)   sections 44, 45 and 46 (emergency protection orders); £170

(p)   section 48 (warrant to assist person exercising powers under emergency protection order); £170

(q)   section 50 (recovery order); £170

(r)    section 102 (warrant to assist person exercising powers to search for children or inspect premises); £170

(s)   paragraph 4(2), 6(2), 7(2) or 9(2) of Schedule A1(j) (applications in respect of enforcement orders); £90

(t)    paragraph 5(2) of Schedule A1 (amendment of enforcement order by reason of change of address); £45

(u)   paragraph 1(1) or (4), 2(1) or (5), 5(6), 6(5), (7) or (8), 8(2), 10(2), 11 or 14(1) of Schedule 1 (financial provision for children); £200

(v)   paragraph 19(1) of Schedule 2 (approval of court for child in care of local authority to live abroad); £170

(w)   paragraph 6 of Schedule 3 (extension of supervision order); £170

(x)   paragraph 15(2) or 17(1) of Schedule 3 (extension or discharge of education supervision order). £170

Will I have to pay the fee? <Back to Top>

In most cases, yes, unless:

·       You are in receipt of a specified means tested benefit; or

·       Your gross annual income does not exceed a specified limit; or

·       You would suffer undue financial hardship if you had to pay the court fee.

Further information can be found within HM Court Service’s leaflet EX160A (you may need to download this from a PC)

Support <Back to Top>

The Custody Minefield offers support forums where you can ask our team of experienced support staff questions about family law, the courts and separation. Collectively, we have answered more than 10,000 posts on other family law related support forums. Visit our Support Forum Page on The Custody Minefield website to find out how to register.

Return to the Family Law Menu or return to The Custody Minefield