Family Court Hearing Centres

England and Wales have a single Family Court. It does not sit in one building. Instead, it sits at hearing centres across the country, many of which share a building with the County Court or the Crown Court. That is why the official names vary, from "Civil and Family Justice Centre" to "Combined Court Centre".

You do not usually choose the venue. When an application is issued, the court decides where it will be heard, and your notice of hearing tells you the building, the date and the time. Some hearings take place by video or telephone, and the notice will say so.

Not every centre deals with every type of family case. HMCTS lists the family work each venue handles on the GOV.UK court finder, and our court pages set this out for each centre below. Most divorce applications are now made online and processed centrally, so a local hearing centre is more often involved in children, financial and protection cases.

Before applying for most child arrangements or financial orders, you must attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM), unless an exemption applies, such as domestic abuse or genuine urgency. A Barrister can advise whether an exemption fits your situation.

Wherever your case is listed, a Direct Access Barrister can advise you, prepare your documents and represent you at the hearing, without you also instructing a Solicitor. The Public Access scheme covers England and Wales only.