They have been introduced for the following applications:

• Domestic Violence

• Maintenance

• Arrangements for Children

These forms account for over 90% of private family law applications and need to be used for any new or further submissions as of 3 June. Applications for Childcare and other low volume District Court remain unchanged.

• Access the new family law forms

Main features

Documents are now divided into:

1. An application form which is completed by the applicant or solicitor, and
2. A summons or notice of application which is generated on the system by Courts personnel.

Maintenance and Arrangements for Children application forms

Applicants are required to:

• complete the new application form. There is no need to complete the summons or notice of application; and

• file three copies of the application form with the court office.

Court personnel will allocate a date for the hearing generate the summons, and provide you with two copies of the summons and return two copies of the application form. Both the completed application form and the summons must then be served on the respondent.

Domestic Violence applications

Applicants are required to:

• complete the new application form (which allows an applicant to apply for both interim and full orders simultaneously), and

• file one copy of the application form with the court office.

Court personnel will then schedule the interim hearing as soon as possible. A staff member will then allocate a date for the full hearing and generate the summons.

They will provide you with a copy of the summons. The Courts Service, or AGS, will then serve the summons, order, and note of evidence on the respondent along with a copy of only the “Domestic Violence Information” pages of the application form if the interim order is granted.

Primary benefits

These changes have been steered by the Courts Service in conjunction with the District Court Rules Committee, to modernise the Family Law application process in the District Court. For example, there were 17 separate forms for Arrangements for Children and Statements of Arrangements, 7 separate forms for Maintenance applications, and 7 separate forms to apply for a Domestic Violence Order. As a result of the changes, there is now a single form for each type of application.

Find out more

If you have a query, visit the Courts Service website or contact familylawreform@courts.ie.