New forms

The new forms relate to the most common Family Law application types including:

• maintenance (including applications to recover arrears and to vary/discharge maintenance);

• arrangements for Children (including Guardianship, Custody and Access applications); and

• domestic Violence.

According to the Courts Service, the new forms are easy to navigate, written in plain English, have clear guides and eligibility checkers for applicants and feature links to supporting information and services. The forms will be prescribed in the new District Court Rules which are to arrive alongside the revised forms.

Additional changes

Application forms are now separated from the Summons or Notice of Application (NOA). The Summons or NOA will now be generated by the Courts Service on receipt of the application form. Following this change, legal Practitioners and lay litigants will not longer be able to pre-fill Summons/NOAs before arriving at the court office.

Related to this, the process to assign initial court dates has also been changed. The assignment of initial court dates will be managed by the Courts Service whenever the Courts Service generates a new Summons/NOA. Following this change, legal practitioners and lay litigants will not longer be able to nominate a hearing date.

For additional queries, please contact familylawreform@courts.ie.