In a letter dated 30 September 2025, the Family Presiding Judge for London, Mr Justice MacDonald, has issued a revised Public Law Practice Note for London to secure rigorous adherence to the Public Law Outline (PLO). The revisions made to the Practice Note centre on reiterating the test of necessity for both the instruction of expert evidence and the attendance of experts for cross examination at any final hearing. A similar revision is made in respect of controlling the use of intermediaries. Minor changes have also been made with respect to the consequences of default of case management directions. The Practice Note forms part of the wider London Family Justice Strategy. The key objectives of that strategy are to reduce delay in public law proceedings and to deal with the backlog of private law cases, with a view to preparing London for Pathfinder. The Practice Note is designed to maintain rigour in the case management of public law cases. In addition, a programme has been introduced to identify and seek to resolve long running private law cases that are, or can be made, ready for final hearing. The Ministry of Justice has provided funding for additional sitting days for private law and additional courts are sitting at Wandsworth deal with those cases. A pilot project is examining the use of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) case progression officers.

Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955 implemented on 6 April 2011 was the largest wholesale reform of family procedure since the introduction of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991 (FPR 1991) and are made up of 40 parts.

Family analysis: Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), Practice Direction (PD) Update No 1 of 2026 has been issued setting out amendments to several existing Practice Directions to improve procedural clarity in financial remedy proceedings following the introduction of the amended FPR 2010, PD 27A from 2 March 2026 and the publication of the Financial remedies guide on 13 March 2026 and extending various existing pilot schemes in other proceedings. Key changes include clarification of which preliminary documents should, where possible, be agreed between the parties in financial proceedings and setting out which party is responsible for filing each of the preliminary documents. Amendments are also made to FPR 2010, PD 27A to reflect the Financial remedies guide which was published on 13 March 2026. The express financial remedy procedure pilot under FPR 2010, PD 36ZH is extended in time and geographical scope and enhanced information sharing with the police is set out in amendments to FPR 2010, PD 36ZI. In addition, a number of existing pilot schemes are extended beyond 2026. The majority of amendments take effect immediately, save for the amendments to FPR 2010, PD 36ZI which are effective from 1 April 2026.

The Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction Update No 2 of 2025 has been issued and makes amendments to FPR 2010, PD 36ZA and inserts a new Practice Direction, FPR 2010, PD 36ZI. The new Practice Direction FPR 2010, PD 36ZI supplements FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, r 36.2 (Transitional Arrangements and Pilot Schemes) to underpin a pilot scheme for notification to the police when a relevant non-molestation order is made or varied or extended by the court, under a new procedure to notify the police by automated electronic means or by email once a relevant non molestation order is made. The amendments made to FPR 2010, PD 36ZA remove the provisions providing for the court to notify the police of non-molestation orders, or variation or discharge of non-molestation orders, and of service of such orders from its scope in the North Yorkshire Pilot. Notifications of relevant non molestation orders where made will instead be subsumed by the national solution provided by the pilot in FPR 2010, PD 36ZI.

The third Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction (PD) update of 2025 has been issued, making amendments to two existing PDs, FPR 2010, PD 36Z (Pilot Scheme: Private Law Reform: Investigative Approach) together with FPR 2010, PD12B (Pilot: Private law reform: investigative approach), which is annexed to FPR 2010, PD 36Z. These existing PDs make provision for the Pathfinder pilot. Pathfinder is piloting, in selected courts, a new procedural approach to certain private law proceedings relating to children, in place of the Child Arrangements Programme. The PD amendments come into force on 14 August 2025.

Family analysis: Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), Practice Direction (PD) Update No 3 of 2026 has been issued setting out amendments to seven existing Practice Directions, with some changes already in force and others due later in 2026. Key updates include expanded powers for justices’ legal advisers to extend timetables in limited Children Act 1989 proceedings, revised police notification procedures for forced marriage protection orders and female genital mutilation protection orders and signposting to the March 2024 family/criminal disclosure protocol. The PD Update also introduces requirements relating to regulated experts in children proceedings, makes amendments to reflect operational practice within the Child Focused Court model and extends the non-molestation order police notification pilot to July 2027.

The fourth Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction (PD) update of 2025 has been issued, making amendments to two existing PDs, FPR 2010, PD 41G (Proceeding by electronic means: certain proceedings for a matrimonial order or civil partnership order (New law)) and FPR 2010, PD 2C (Justices’ legal adviser). The PD amendments allow applications relating to service to be made via the existing online portal and permit legal advisers to consider requests for bailiff service of applications for matrimonial and civil partnership orders to improve efficiency. The PD amendments relate to the digitisation of interim applications in respect of service of an application for a matrimonial or civil partnership order. The amendments come into force on 29 September 2025.

The fifth Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction update of 2024 has been issued, amending FPR 2010, PD 7A,  FPR 2010, PD 9A, FPR 2010, PD 12B, FPR 2010, PD 12B (Pilot), FPR 2010, PD 12F,  FPR 2010, PD 36N and FPR 2010, PD 36ZE. In addition, a new Practice Direction FPR 2010, PD 41G (Proceeding by Electronic Means: Certain Proceedings for a Matrimonial Order or Civil Partnership Order (New Law)) is in force from 1 June 2024 to underpin the procedure for applications made on the online service, replacing the pilot under FPR 2010, PD 36ZC.

The fifth Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction (PD) update of 2025 has been issued, making one amendment to the existing FPR 2010, PD 36Z (Pilot scheme: Private law reform: Investigative approach), which makes provision for what has become known as the Pathfinder pilot. Pathfinder is piloting, in certain courts, a new procedural approach to certain private law proceedings relating to children in place of the Child Arrangements Programme. The third FPR 2010, PD Update of 2025 added the three Designated Family Judge areas in the Black Country and Shropshire, Hereford and Worcestershire and Staffordshire to FPR 2010, PD 36Z. The Family Court locations in these three areas were listed in a new paragraph 1.4E of FPR 2010, PD 36Z (see LNB News 31/07/2025 27). The fifth FPR 2010 PD Update of 2025 amends FPR 2010, PD 36Z to add to paragraph 1.3(b) a reference to paragraph 1.4E, thereby ensuring that Family Courts in these three Designated Family Judge areas will follow the Pathfinder procedure from 11 November 2025 (as long as the other qualifying conditions specified in FPR 2010, PD 36Z are met). The PD amendment is in force on 11 November 2025.

The sixth Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction (PD) update of 2024 has been issued, amending FPR 2010, PD 5B (which makes provision for when documents may be sent to the court by email), amending FPR 2010, PD 30A (to reflect the amendments to FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, r 30.3 in relation to appeals) and inserting a new FPR 2010, PD 6D (in relation to service of documents). The PD update refers to changes introduced by the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2024, SI 2024/1016.

Family analysis: Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), Practice Direction (PD) Update No 6 of 2025 has been issued setting out a new PD 27A, replacing the existing FPR 2010, PD 27A on the preparation and filing of bundles, in force on 2 March 2026. The new PD 27A brings forward the timetables for preparing and filing the bundle and the bundle, with the exception of the preliminary documents, must be filed five working days prior to the hearing instead of two. The PD Update also makes amendments to eight existing PDs.

The seventh Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction (PD) update of 2024 has been issued, making amendments to six existing PDs and inserting three new PDs. The PD update makes provision for transparency orders where reporters have attended hearings in most types of proceedings relating to a child and in placement order proceedings where the application for a placement order is made within proceedings for a care order. Permanent provision is made to underpin the contested financial remedy online digital service for legal representatives. The pathfinder pilot is extended until 31 March 2026 in existing sites and expanded to additional courts. The pilot for notification to the police of non-molestation orders and of occupation orders with a power of arrest attached is extended until 28 February 2026. Amendments to allow local flexibilities to be adopted in the Child Arrangements Programme are extended until 28 February 2027 and the correct address for filing certain documents with the High Court is updated.