Process

Gap #583

The assumption

I can upload my financial documents to the court's online portal in the same way a solicitor does.

The reality

Making provision for litigants in person to upload documents digitally on the financial remedy portal is a live project (Practice Direction 41H, item 15 on the Family Procedure Rule Committee's Tier 2 list). In July 2026 the Committee agreed the approach in principle and amendments to PD41H were to be presented in November 2026, with practice direction updates promised at that meeting. As of the October 2026 table it is still work in progress, so if there is no upload route open to you, that is expected rather than a fault on your part. File and serve the way your order or your court office tells you to, keep proof of when you sent it, and ask before the deadline rather than on it.

Gap #582

The assumption

Once a new Act gets Royal Assent, the family court process changes the next day.

The reality

The Victims and Courts Act 2026 received Royal Assent in May 2026 and is item 2 on the Family Procedure Rule Committee's Tier 1 list, dealing with restriction of the exercise of parental responsibility. The Committee is still working through the changes that follow, with updates due at its November 2026 meeting. An Act is the instruction; the rules, practice directions and forms are the machinery that makes it work in a courtroom, and that machinery is drafted and introduced separately. Until it lands, the process in your court may not have changed at all. Check the Committee's published updates rather than assuming the new law is already being applied at the counter.

Gap #581

The assumption

If a parent is convicted of killing the other parent, the family court strips their parental responsibility quickly and the forms catch up later.

The reality

Jade's Law (section 18 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024) inserts new sections 10A and 10B into the Children Act 1989 and restricts parental responsibility where a parent has been convicted of killing the child's other parent. The commencement regulations (S.I. 2026/1126) were made on 22 October 2026 and bring section 18 into force on 18 December 2026 — that is the date the protection starts to operate, not the date the Act was passed. There is a transitional limit too: the change applies only to offences committed on or after 18 December 2026, and where an offence is found to have been committed over a period of two or more days, or at some time during such a period, it is treated as committed on the last of those days. So where the killing happened before that date, the new provision does not apply and the position is whatever the court can do under existing law. On the procedural side, Jade's Law sits at the top of the Family Procedure Rule Committee's priorities table (item 1, Tier 1, on the list since December 2022), and at the table published for the November 2026 meeting the Committee is still working on draft rule and practice direction amendments, with further updates promised. That means from 18 December the protection exists in law, but the court rules, forms and working process that make it run day to day may still be being finished. If this applies to your family, do not assume a court office will already have a form for it or that everyone in the building knows the route. Ask what the current local process is, in writing, and get advice before filing anything.

Gap #554

The assumption

Filing a C100 guarantees your children's wishes and feelings will be heard directly by the court.

The reality

A C100 starts the proceedings, but it does not guarantee how the court will hear your children's voices. Since the PD 36G pilot scheme (in force until 31 March 2027), litigants in person can generate and file a C100 online for section 8 orders via the HMCTS online system (PD 36G, para 1.2). Legally represented applicants must use the separate PD 36ZD system instead (PD 36G, para 2.3). The court often directs a Section 7 report (Cafcass or social services) in which the children's views are gathered and reported by a professional, rather than children being heard directly. The process can also shift into an investigation of the parents — particularly where allegations are raised. Filing is the start, not the outcome.