Filling in the forms

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This guidance is also available in pdf format.

Before you use this guidance

Make sure you have read the guidance on Children and the family courts. It will help you use some parts of this guidance.

The forms and the law

The forms you fill in are those which you must use by law. They are called 'prescribed forms'. You do not need to know the law to fill in the forms but if you want to read more about the law you need:

• Children Act 1989
• Family Proceedings Rules 1991 (if you apply to a county court)
• Family Proceedings Courts (Children Act 1989) Rules 1991 (if you apply to a family proceedings court).

The information on page 4 will help you decide which court you must apply to. Your local library may have a copy of the Act and Rules. There have been several changes to the Rules since they were first published so make sure that you see all of them.