How to complete a C100 application form
Completing the C100 form can seem like a daunting task and can lead to many questions. It’s in your interest to make sure your C100 court form is as complete as possible before you send it off to court, so we’ve written comprehensive instructions on how to complete a C100 application, as well as providing images to illustrate a completed C100 court form.
If you are looking to find out how to complete a C100 application you are in the right place, but if you would like to know the types of orders you can obtain through a C100 application please visit here.
If you want to know how to complete a C100 application, here is the process.
You may wish to get your own legal advice and use an experienced family solicitor. This resource does not constitute legal advice, it is for informational purposes only.
A C100 court form is used to ask the court to make or amend a child arrangements order. You can download the form here. If you don’t have a printer, you can ask the people at the family court for the form or complete the C100 online. You can also contact Support Through Court, an organisation set up to support individuals who will represent themselves through the court process (also known as litigants in person). Here is a link to our resource that will provide more information about them.
You must attend a mediation information assessment meeting before attending family court, also known as a MIAM. Attending a MIAM became a legal requirement in 2014. Usually, when family mediation isn’t considered suitable, or a party has decided they do not wish to continue with family mediation, the party would complete their C100 application to the family court. However, there are instances where the courts will defer parties back to family mediation. A MIAM can only be provided by a Family Mediation Council Accredited Family Mediator.
A MIAM is the session you will have on your own before you and the mediator decide whether to invite the other party to a MIAM. If the other party completes their MIAM and the family mediator and both parties agree to proceed, a family mediation session will then take place.
In the MIAM, the family mediator will:
- Provide you with information about the mediation process
- Explore what you want to resolve
- Provide you with relevant legal information
- Assess the suitability of a potential mediation
- Find out more about your situation from your perspective
- Answer any questions you may have.
Book your MIAM HERE.
To sign the C100 form, the family mediator must be Family Mediation Council accredited. This means that the mediator has several years of experience and has completed an FMC-recognised family mediation course. The mediator will have also completed an entire mediation portfolio and kept their training and membership to date in line with the Family Mediation Council.
The family mediator will sign page 9 and date the form, ticking only the boxes they consider relevant to your situation and return it to you. You must request the signed C100 Form from your mediator and send it to the family court within four months after the date of your MIAM. Any later, and the courts will not accept it.
It costs £232 to submit the C100 form. If you receive certain benefits or hold a low income, you may be eligible for support with these fees. However, it will not cover your legal costs. This will not change how the family court will handle your case.
Please see below a copy of a completed C100 application form.
This is the first page of the C100 application form. You will need to read the information provided. It is recommended that you sign and date this page to confirm your understanding of the information.
Nature of application
Page 1 Details of your case/application
Make sure to enter your HWF Case Number in the upper-right-hand corner of your written application. You will only have a HWF Case Number if you are receiving help with the court fees. You are the applicant and will be asked to enter the respondent’s full name next.
You can use the C100 to apply for the following types of orders:
A child arrangements order: is an application to the court that asks a judge to decide how and when your children will spend time with you. A child arrangements order can cover holidays, school breaks, and home visits.
A prohibited steps order: There may be certain circumstances where a parent wishes to move a child out of the area or change the child’s school, and the court will have to consider whether it is in the child’s best interests for this to occur. Sometimes parents disagree about such matters. Anyone considering applying for permission to relocate a child from the area (or change their school) must seek independent legal advice first.
A specific issue order: is usually for matters where the parents cannot agree on children going on holiday, who will the passport stay with, Christmas arrangements and/or other special occasions, and which school the child/children will attend.
On the C100 application form, you can select more than one box and include a short description in the box.
Concerns about risk of harm
When making an allegation against a person, the court will investigate the allegation thoroughly. You need to provide clear details of your claims and supporting evidence. Where applicable, answer yes if the circumstance applies to you. You can fill in any extra detail on Form C1A and file it with the C100 form.
Additional information required – tick yes if the boxes apply to you and no if they don’t. Where they do apply, please complete the relevant sections stated.
Are you asking for permission to make this application, where that is required?
In relation to making a C100 court application, you would not need to ask the family court for permission if you have parental responsibility, where the child is of the family or if the child has lived with you for three or more years.
If you are a grandparent, and the child/children in question have lived with you for three out of the last five years, you can request a guardianship.
Is an urgent hearing or without notice hearing required?
An urgent hearing or a hearing without notice is only needed if the court needs to act quickly as a child is at immediate risk of harm or where the other party is likely to cause harm to the child. In this case, you would need to demonstrate to the court in this C100 court form the immediate risk to the child.
Are there previous or ongoing proceedings for the child(ren)?
Where there are other or previous applications/proceedings for the child/children, you would need to notify the court of this. You will need to tick yes and provide details in section 7.
Are you applying for an order to formalise an agreement (consent order)?
This is only applicable if you and the other party have agreed either between yourselves, through family mediation or via solicitors (not in court) and would like to formalise the agreement.
Is this a case with an international element or factors affecting litigation capacity?
If one of the parents or child/children lives abroad or is involved in moving abroad, please tick yes and complete sections 8 and 9. Do not tick this section if the issue is about taking children on holiday.
Will the child or any of the people involved need to use spoken or written Welsh during the course of the proceedings?
Please tick yes if this is the case and complete section 10.
Page 2, section 1 The Child(ren)
Summary of children’s details – In this section, you must provide information on any children that the court would be asked to make an order about, starting with the eldest child first. Be as specific as possible, listing each child’s names and dates of birth. The orders you are applying for should have been included on page 1. It is possible that you could ask for different orders for different children. Note each child’s relationship with both parents, even if this is the same for all of them.
Children’s details continued on page 3
Page 3, section 1a Are any of the children known to the local authority children’s services?
Please tick the relevant box. Where you are unsure, please tick don’t know. If yes, please include the relevant details of the child and the name of the local authority and social worker.
Page 3, section 1b Are any of the children the subject of a Child Protection Plan?
Please tick the relevant box. Where you are unsure, please tick don’t know. A child protection plan is usually put in place to protect the children, and you would have been notified of it.
Page 3, section 1c Do all the children have the same parents?
Please tick the relevant box. Also include the extra information stated.
The next question asks about parental responsibility. Please include everyone who has parental responsibility for each child and how they have parental responsibility; an example is provided under the question.
Page 3, section 1d Who do the children currently live with?
Please tick the relevant box. The options are the applicant (which is yourself), the respondent or someone else.
This question asks you to provide addresses for the children. Please note that these addresses will be seen by all parties involved in the case. If you do not want the other parties to have a view of these addresses, please leave the box empty and complete Form C8.
Section 2, page 4 Requirement to attend a Mediation, Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM)
It is now mandatory in most instances for parties to attend a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting before making an application to the court.
Complete 2a – 2d by ticking the relevant question to your case. Where it is not relevant, please tick no. Where you have ticked yes, you will need to complete the relevant sections stated.
Section 3, page 5 Applicant claims exemption(s) from attendance at a Mediation, Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM)
Please only tick this part of the form if you have not attended a MIAM due to one of the exemptions.
Section 3a page 5,6 & 7 Domestic Violence Evidence
You will need to complete this section if you are stating an exemption from a MIAM due to domestic abuse.
You will need to confirm the evidence you can provide to support the exemption. If the other party has been arrested and charged, you will be able to get evidence from the police. You can tick as many of these boxes as applicable.
You will need evidence that you have been a victim of domestic abuse; they will not accept your word for it.
If you cannot provide evidence, you may wish to attend a MIAM first and notify the family mediator as you will not need to evidence domestic abuse to them. They will be able to sign the MIAM certificate for you.
Section 3b Child Protection Concerns
This section relates to whether a child is in police protection and is under a child protection plan or one is underway. You would usually be notified if this was the case.
Section 3c Urgency
This section relates to the urgency of the case. You will need to decide whether there is a MIAM exemption because if you state there is and the court disagrees, you will need to attend a MIAM.
The court would classify an urgent case as:
- There is a risk to life and physical safety to application or home
- There is a risk to the child
- There is a risk of loss of evidence.
In this instance, where one of these would apply, and you are submitting an urgent court application, you will need to submit it the same day.
Page 8 Section 3d – Previous MIAM attendance or MIAM exemption
This section is relevant if you did attend a MIAM no more than four months from the date noted on page 9 (signed by a family mediator). If it is out of 4 months, this MIAM certificate will not be accepted by the courts, and you will need to repeat the MIAM.
If this application is relevant to an existing court case, you will not need to repeat your MIAM. If these proceedings have finished and you need to make another court application, you must complete a new MIAM.
Section 3e – Other exemptions
There are other exemptions as to why attendance to a MIAM is not suitable. This section covers these other exemptions.
Please note – you only need to complete pages 5-8 if you are claiming a MIAM exemption.
Page 9, section 4 Mediator certifies that the prospective applicant is exempt from attendance at Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM) or confirms MIAM attendance
You do not need to complete this page. If you have been to a MIAM, the accredited family mediator should have completed this for you.
The family mediator will usually only send you this page, not the whole C100 application form. You can then just insert the signed c100 into the application form.
Only family mediators accredited by the family mediation council can sign MIAM certificates.
Page 10, section 5 – why are you making this application
You need to complete this page to show the family court the reason for your application. Where permission to make such an application is required, you will need to include it in this section, for example, if you are a grandparent.
Page 11 & 12, section 6 – Urgent and without notice hearings
You only need to complete this section if you have indicated on page 1 of the c100 application form under additional information required – question 2, that an urgent or without notice hearing is needed.
Page 13, section 7 Other court cases which concern the child(ren) listed in section 1
This section asks you for further information about any court cases that the children are involved in accept the application you are currently completing.
You will also need to copy the relevant orders if the court has made one.
Page 14, section 8 Cases with an international element
If you selected yes on page 1 of the application form to the fifth question under additional information required, you would need to complete this section. You may wish to seek support in completing this section from someone with relevant expertise in the area of international family law.
Page 14, section 9 Factors Affecting Ability to Participate in Proceedings
If you selected yes on the front page of the application form to the fifth question under additional information required, you would need to complete this section.
You will need to include any details of disabilities or factors that may affect your capacity/ability to participate in court proceedings.
Page 15, section 10 Attending the court
This section refers to requiring interpreters if you do not speak English, need special assistance or a sign language interpreter.
Page 16, section 11 – About you (the applicant (s))
Please include all relevant information about yourself, including your name, address and date of birth. If you do not wish the other party to see these contact details, you must complete form C8.
Page 17 section 12 – The respondent(s)
This section is about the other party. Please include as much detail and information as possible. If you are unaware of the other party’s address or where the child/ren are living, please complete Form C4 . This will enable the court to further investigate the whereabouts of the other party and child.
Page 18, section 13 Others who should be given notice
This section includes details of others who should have notice of the court application/proceedings; for example, if your child stays with a grandparent or family member, you may want to include their details here.
You can also include your other children who are not included in this application.
Page 19, section 14 solicitors details
Please enter the details of your solicitor here if you have one. In most instances, if you have a solicitor, they will help you complete the C100 form.
Page 20, section 15 checklist
Before submitting the c100 application form, please ensure that you have ticked all of the boxes in this checklist. You will need to send the court three copies of this form.
Page 20, section 16 statement of truth
This section explains the importance of being factual in this application form and the potential ramifications if you are found to be deliberately misleading the court.
Access Mediation Services prepared this document.
