Northern Family Law Support
About Us
For a fraction of the hourly rates charged by solicitors, Northern Family Law Support provides expert, practical and affordable support for people who are representing themselves in family court proceedings and want experienced help without the cost of instructing a solicitor throughout their case.
We support clients in private Children Act proceedings, financial remedy proceedings following divorce, Financial Consent Orders, non-molestation and occupation order proceedings, and divorce. We can assist from the early stages of a case through to Final Hearings and, where appropriate, appeals.
Our support is not limited to attending court. A large part of our work takes place before the hearing, helping clients understand the issues in their case, organise the evidence, prepare clear court documents and develop a sensible strategy for the next stage of proceedings.
Support Throughout Your Case:
Family proceedings can quickly become overwhelming. There may be court deadlines, large bundles of documents, allegations and counter-allegations, difficult correspondence and important decisions concerning children, housing, pensions and other finances.
Our role is to help bring structure to the case and make sure you are properly prepared. Depending on what is needed, we can support and assist you with:
– Preparing or responding to court applications
– Drafting and reviewing witness statements and position statements
– Preparing case summaries, chronologies and other documents
– Reviewing evidence and identifying the issues that matter most
– Preparing questions for Fact Finding and Final Hearings
– Preparing verbal submissions for you to use in court
– Preparing for CAFCASS involvement and section 7 reports
– Form E, financial disclosure and questionnaires in financial remedy proceedings
– Settlement proposals and preparation for FDR Hearings
– Financial Consent Orders and clean break orders
– Preparing you for what is likely to happen at a hearing
– Attending court alongside you as your McKenzie Friend
Children and Financial Remedy expertise:
A particular strength of Northern Family Law Support is the breadth of the family cases we deal with. We regularly support clients in private Children Act proceedings, including cases involving safeguarding concerns, allegations of domestic abuse, PD12J issues, CAFCASS involvement, Fact Finding Hearings and Final Hearings.
We also regularly support clients through financial remedy proceedings following divorce, including cases involving property, mortgages, pensions, savings, investments, businesses, income, disclosure, Form E, First Appointments, FDR Hearings and Final Hearings.
Where a separation involves both children and finances, this allows clients to receive consistent support across both parts of the dispute rather than having to start again with different people.
A Fraction of the hourly rates of Solicitors:
Many people do not qualify for legal aid but cannot afford to instruct solicitors throughout lengthy family proceedings. Northern Family Law Support exists to provide another option.
Our hourly rate is £130 plus VAT. We offer a free initial 30 minute consultation so that we can understand where your case stands, identify the immediate issues and understand how we may be able to support you.
What a McKenzie Friend can and cannot do:
Northern Family Law Support is not a firm of solicitors or Chartered Legal Executives and we are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. You remain a litigant in person and are responsible for conducting your own proceedings.
As your McKenzie Friend, we can sit alongside you in court, provide support and guidance, take notes and quietly assist you during the hearing. Outside court, we can support and assist you with case preparation, documents, evidence and strategy.
A McKenzie Friend does not automatically have a right to address the court, question witnesses or conduct litigation on your behalf. Any applications, correspondence and court documents must therefore be filed or sent by you in your own name unless the court specifically permits otherwise.
Areas we cover:
We mainly support clients across the North East of England, including County Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, Teesside and Darlington, but we can support clients in family court proceedings throughout England and Wales.
Come and meet us and talk to us:
If you are facing family court proceedings and would like practical support with your case, contact Northern Family Law Support for a free initial 30 minute consultation.
We are here to:
- Support and assist you in the conduct of your own family law matters.
- Support and assist you in the family court in our role as your McKenzie Friend.
We can support you in family law legal proceedings spanning Divorce, Child Custody, Financial Remedy Proceedings and Domestic Abuse. We can support you if you are the “Applicant” in proceedings or the “Respondent” in proceedings. We provide support across the following range of services:
- Give you guidance on the options available to you. Provide you with advice about your case from a lay person’s perspective.
- Making applications to court. We can support and assist you in preparing and responding to applications to court.
- Drafting Formal Court Documents. We can support and assist you in drafting formal court documents such as the Form E in Financial Remedy Proceedings.
- Drafting Position Statements and Witness Statements. We can support and assist you in preparing your position statements and witness statements.
- Correspondence with the other party. We can support and assist you in your correspondence with the other party to proceedings.
- Negotiations. We can support and assist you in negotiating with the other party to proceedings both in and out of court.
- Expert Witnesses. We can support and assist you in finding and drafting instructions to expert witnesses.
- Drafting Orders. We can support and assist you in preparing Financial Consent Orders and Child Arrangements Orders for court approval.
- Attend and support you in the court room. We can support you in court in our capacity as your McKenzie Friend.
As your lay advisor and McKenzie Friend you are allowed to communicate with us about all aspects of your family law proceedings. We treat all the information you share with us in the strictest confidence.
We cannot:
Act as your agent in relation to proceedings. You must speak on your own behalf on all legal matters. This means that all correspondence we assist you on must be sent by you in your name. All applications to court and court documents must be filed by you in your name. We cannot speak to the other party or their solicitors on your behalf.
Manage any aspects of your case outside of court. We are not permitted to sign documents on your behalf. We are not permitted to serve documents on your behalf. We are not permitted to receive service of documents, from court or from the other party, or their solicitor, on your behalf.
Address the court. We cannot speak for you in court. We cannot cross examine the other party on your behalf. Only in exceptional circumstances can we speak on your behalf as explained in more detail in the section McKenzie Friends – Rights of Audience and Conduct of Litigation
We mainly cover the family courts in the North East of England, including Chester le Street, County Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, Teesside and Darlington, but can support you in proceedings in any family court in England and Wales.
It is important to stress we are not solicitors or Chartered Legal Executives. We do not have any affiliation with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or any other regulatory body. We are lay people who have significant lived experience of all aspects of private family law proceedings. This means that you are responsible for conducting your case, also known as conducting litigation, but we can support you every step of the way.
Our Fees are transparent and significantly lower than solicitors.
The Need For Us
People involved in family law cases, specifically applications made under the Family Law Act 1996, Children Act 1989 and Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 , can be placed in one of three categories.
Category 1: people who can afford to pay the court approved rate of £288 per hour plus VAT for a solicitor in the North East with more than 8 years experience. Many firms charge even more than this.
Category 2: people who have been the victim of Domestic Abuse and have low income with limited assets. They may still qualify for legal aid for some, or all, of their costs.
Category 3: people who cannot afford expensive Solicitors and do not qualify for legal aid. This category represents the majority of people.
What this means is that too many people end up representing themselves as a litigant in person and may have to do this when the other party has legal representation.
According to the Family Law Statistics for July – Sept 2025, only 30% of people have any form of legal representation in the family courts, leaving many struggling as litigants in person in making applications and filing documents without really knowing the process and expectations of the legal system.
The Legal Services Act 2007 stated that there are six “reserved activities.” The two that are relevant to family law are:
- The exercise of a right of audience.
- The conduct of litigation.
In the family courts, solicitors have a right of audience. This means they have the right to appear before and address a court, including the right to call and examine witnesses. They also have the right to conduct litigation. Most barristers however only have the right of audience. People who do not have legal representation, known as litigants in person, have the right of audience and the right to conduct their own litigation.
The conduct of litigation is further defined in the Legal Services Act 2007 as:
a. The issuing of proceedings before any court in England and Wales.
b. The commencement, prosecution, and defence of such proceedings.
c. The performance of any ancillary functions in relation to such proceedings (such as entering appearances to actions).
As a litigant in person, you have the right to ask us, as lay people, to support you in the conduct of your case and the right to ask us, in our capacity as a McKenzie Friend, to assist you in court.
Free initial 30 minute consultation
Where to find us:
Northern FLS Ltd,
11 Orchard Terrace,
Chester le Street,
DH3 3JU
Call Us:
+44 (0)7342 979477
Email Us:
help@northernfamilylawsupport.co.uk
Get in touch
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