The direct answer

No official government, judicial or statutory qualification is required before someone can assist a litigant in person as a McKenzie Friend.

However, that does not mean the work is simple, risk-free or suitable for anyone who has completed a few hours of online training. The absence of compulsory regulation makes competence, honesty, safeguarding awareness and clear professional boundaries even more important.

What is a McKenzie Friend?

A McKenzie Friend is a layperson who provides reasonable assistance to somebody representing themselves in court. The person receiving the help remains a litigant in person. The McKenzie Friend does not become the litigant’s legal representative simply by sitting beside them, helping with their papers or giving them quiet advice.

The current judicial guidance says that litigants ordinarily have a right to reasonable assistance from a layperson. However, the McKenzie Friend has no independent right to participate. The court retains control over the hearing and may limit or refuse assistance where this is necessary in the interests of justice or because the assistance is disrupting the proper administration of the case.

In private family proceedings, including cases concerning children, hearings will often take place in private. The litigant should tell the court as early as possible that they wish to be assisted. The proposed McKenzie Friend should be ready to provide a short CV or written statement explaining their relevant experience and confirming that they:

• understand the limits of the role;
• have no improper personal interest in the case;
• understand the duty of confidentiality;
• will not disrupt the hearing or attempt to control the litigant; and
• will comply with the judge’s directions.

Do you need a qualification to become a McKenzie Friend?

There is no prescribed legal qualification, licence or statutory training route which a person must complete before offering ordinary McKenzie Friend assistance.

That means a friend, relative, support worker, charity volunteer or paid professional may potentially act as a McKenzie Friend. It does not mean that every person using that description is competent to advise on family proceedings, evidence, domestic abuse, safeguarding or court procedure.

Private organisations may provide courses and certificates. Those courses may be useful. They may show that someone has undertaken study or passed a private assessment. What they cannot do is:

• grant a right to address the court;
• authorise someone to question witnesses;
• grant a right to conduct litigation;
• make the person a solicitor, barrister or regulated legal executive;
• guarantee admission to a private family hearing;
• guarantee that a judge will accept the person’s assistance in every case; or
• remove the individual’s responsibility to work within their competence.

What may a McKenzie Friend do?

The judicial guidance identifies four core forms of assistance.

What may a McKenzie Friend not do automatically?

A McKenzie Friend does not automatically have permission to:

• address the judge or magistrates;
• make oral submissions;
• question or cross-examine witnesses;
• act as the litigant’s agent;
• take over management of the case;
• sign court documents in place of the litigant;
• issue proceedings in the litigant’s name;
• accept formal responsibility for conducting the litigation; or
• describe themselves in a way which falsely suggests that they are regulated or authorised.

The right to speak in court is a right of audience. The right to carry responsibility for formal steps in proceedings is the right to conduct litigation. These are separate reserved legal activities under the Legal Services Act 2007.

A court can grant a layperson a right of audience or a right to conduct litigation in a particular case. However, neither right should be treated as routine. Each must be requested and justified separately.

The judicial guidance says courts should be slow to grant these rights to laypeople. Where someone holds themselves out as a professional advocate or regularly seeks to exercise those rights, permission will be granted only in exceptional circumstances.

How to assess a McKenzie Friend course before paying

The question is not simply whether a course is described as accredited, certified or fast-track. The important question is what the course actually teaches, who teaches it, how competence is assessed and whether the provider is honest about the legal limitations of the role.

1. Check exactly what the certificate represents

Ask who awards the certificate, whether that organisation is a statutory regulator and whether the qualification is listed on any recognised qualifications framework. A private certificate may still be valuable, but it should be described accurately.

2. Examine the syllabus

A credible family court course should cover more than courtroom etiquette. At minimum, it should address:

• the 2010 McKenzie Friend Practice Guidance;
• the Family Procedure Rules and relevant practice directions;
• the distinction between assistance, advocacy and conducting litigation;
• court structure and the stages of family proceedings;
• applications, responses, statements, position statements, schedules and orders;
• the purpose and limits of bundles;
• evidence, relevance, hearsay, allegations and findings of fact;
• confidentiality and the restrictions applying to family proceedings;
• professional boundaries, conflicts and complaints;
• domestic abuse, coercive control and trauma-informed practice;
• child safeguarding and welfare;
• vulnerable parties and participation directions;
• data protection and secure document handling;
• when to refer a person to a regulated lawyer, IDVA, ISVA or safeguarding agency; and
• how to work calmly and constructively without escalating conflict.

3. Check the tutors

Look for transparent biographies and verifiable experience. Relevant experience may include legal practice, family court work, advocacy, safeguarding, domestic abuse services, court administration or supervised support for litigants in person.

A vague statement that a tutor is a “family law expert” or “court professional” is not enough. Check what that description actually means.

4. Look for real assessment and feedback

Watching videos and answering a short multiple-choice quiz is not the same as demonstrating competence. A serious programme should assess practical tasks such as:

• identifying the issues in a case;
• distinguishing evidence from assertion;
• preparing a clear chronology;
• organising a hearing file;
• recognising safeguarding concerns;
• explaining the limits of the role to a client;
• responding to an ethical problem; and
• knowing when not to advise.

5. Check whether the materials are current

Family procedure, legal aid, domestic abuse law, transparency rules, bundle requirements and court practice change. The course should identify when its materials were last reviewed and explain how updates will be provided.

6. Read the claims made in the advertising

Treat the following claims as warning signs:

• “Become a qualified court advocate in a weekend.”
• “Represent clients in any family court.”
• “Guaranteed right to speak for clients.”
• “Equivalent to a solicitor or barrister.”
• “The court must let you attend.”
• “You can manage the whole case for the litigant.”
• “No legal background or further supervision is needed.”

7. Check the provider’s own professional standards

A training provider teaching professional conduct should itself have clear terms, transparent prices, a complaints process, a privacy notice and an honest refund or cancellation policy.

What does the 2026 Mazur judgment mean for McKenzie Friends?

The Court of Appeal’s decision in Julia Mazur and another v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP and others [2026] EWCA Civ 369 considered when an unauthorised person working within a regulated legal organisation may carry out litigation tasks under the supervision of an authorised individual.

The Court of Appeal held that an unauthorised employee may lawfully perform delegated litigation tasks for and on behalf of an authorised solicitor or other appropriately authorised individual, provided that proper management, supervision and control are in place. The authorised professional remains responsible for the work.

That does not create a parallel right for independent McKenzie Friends.

The court also declined to produce an exhaustive definition of every task that amounts to conducting litigation. Issuing proceedings and certain formal steps are clearly within the statutory territory. Other activities may depend on who is assuming responsibility, the nature of the task and the surrounding facts.

The practical lesson is straightforward: do not use Mazur as authority for an independent McKenzie Friend to take control of somebody’s proceedings. It is a judgment about supervised delegation within an authorised legal service structure, not a licence for unregulated representation.

The family court requires more than procedural knowledge

Family proceedings involve human beings under pressure. A litigant may be frightened, traumatised, angry, exhausted or struggling to understand what is happening. Children may be living through conflict, disrupted relationships, allegations of abuse or significant uncertainty.

A McKenzie Friend must not become another source of escalation.

Good support is calm, evidence-led and focused on what the court needs to decide. It helps the litigant separate:

• facts from suspicion;
• evidence from opinion;
• relevant history from general grievance;
• the child’s welfare from the parents’ conflict;
• a pattern of behaviour from an isolated disagreement; and
• the order actually required from every other problem in the family.

Domestic abuse and coercive control

Domestic abuse cases require specific competence. Coercive control is rarely explained adequately by reducing everything to one dramatic incident. The relevant picture may involve isolation, monitoring, financial control, threats, manipulation through children, repeated breaches of boundaries, litigation abuse and post-separation conduct.

Equally, allegations must not be embellished or treated as findings before the court has determined them. A responsible McKenzie Friend helps the litigant identify dates, examples, supporting records, impact and the safeguarding relevance of the conduct.

They should also understand that apparently neutral suggestions may be unsafe. Direct negotiation, joint meetings, shared waiting areas or unrestricted disclosure of addresses may expose an abused party to further risk.

Children’s welfare

In children proceedings, the child’s welfare is central. A McKenzie Friend should not encourage a parent to:

• question a child repeatedly about the other parent;
• ask the child to gather evidence;
• share adult court documents with the child without proper reason;
• turn the child’s expressed view into a slogan without considering age, understanding, pressure or context;
• post details of the proceedings online; or
• use inflammatory language which makes safe co-parenting or judicial decision-making more difficult.

Confidentiality is not optional

Family court documents frequently contain intimate information about adults and children. A McKenzie Friend must understand the restrictions on communicating and publishing information from family proceedings.

Files should not be stored casually, forwarded through insecure channels or reused as marketing material. Names and identifying details should not be published merely because a case is interesting or because one party feels that public exposure would be strategically useful.

Confidentiality should also be distinguished from legal professional privilege. A promise to keep information confidential does not automatically give communications with an unregulated adviser the same legal status as privileged communications with a lawyer.

Can a McKenzie Friend charge fees?

Yes. The judicial guidance recognises that a litigant may agree to pay a McKenzie Friend for lawful assistance, including reasonable help in or out of court, clerical or mechanical assistance and advice connected with proceedings.

However, payment does not expand the McKenzie Friend’s legal powers. A paid McKenzie Friend has no greater automatic right to speak in court or conduct litigation than an unpaid friend or relative.

The guidance also states that McKenzie Friend fees cannot ordinarily be recovered from the opposing party. Fees for unlawfully conducting litigation without the necessary authorisation or case-specific permission cannot lawfully be recovered.

A paid service is a real business with real responsibilities

Someone charging members of the public should have, at minimum:

• clear written terms of engagement;
• an accurate description of the service;
• a defined scope of work;
• transparent fees and payment terms;
• a cancellation and refund policy;
• a complaints procedure;
• a conflicts-of-interest process;
• secure file storage and communication systems;
• a privacy notice and data retention policy;
• appropriate professional indemnity and public liability insurance;
• a procedure for safeguarding disclosures; and
• a reliable method of recording instructions, advice, deadlines and work completed.

Under consumer law, paid services must be provided with reasonable care and skill. A provider should not assume that describing themselves as unregulated removes contractual, consumer protection or negligence risks.

A commercial provider who processes client information may also need to pay a data protection fee to the Information Commissioner’s Office unless an exemption applies. Family cases routinely involve special category data, allegations, health information, children’s details and highly confidential records. Data protection must be designed into the service from the beginning.

What should a prospective client check?

Litigants in person should not be embarrassed to ask direct questions before handing over money or confidential documents.

A responsible route into McKenzie Friend work

There may be no compulsory route, but there is a responsible one.

1. Read the official guidance in full.
   Do not rely on social media summaries or the wording used by a course provider.
2. Learn the limits of reserved legal activities.
   Understand the separate concepts of legal advice, rights of audience and the conduct of litigation.
3. Study the procedure relevant to the cases you intend to support.
   Family, civil, employment and tribunal work have different rules, forms and expectations.
4. Complete safeguarding and domestic abuse training.
   This is particularly important before accepting private children or protective injunction cases.
5. Seek supervised experience.
   Volunteering, mentoring, supervised casework and observing public hearings where permitted are safer than immediately charging vulnerable people.
6. Develop document and evidence skills.
   Learn how to create accurate chronologies, schedules, indexes and concise case summaries without rewriting the evidence to suit a preferred narrative.
7. Set up proper business systems before charging.
   Put contracts, insurance, data protection, complaints, secure storage and conflicts procedures in place.
8. Build a referral network.
   Know when a case requires a solicitor, barrister, IDVA, ISVA, social worker, mental health professional or emergency safeguarding response.
9. Maintain ongoing learning.
   A one-off course cannot keep somebody competent in a changing area of law and procedure.

Frequently asked questions

The wider access-to-justice issue

McKenzie Friends exist because people often have to navigate serious proceedings without representation. Many litigants cannot afford full legal services, do not qualify for legal aid or need practical support between limited appointments with a lawyer.

Good McKenzie Friends can help people organise overwhelming evidence, understand the hearing process, remain calm and communicate their position more effectively. That work can make a real difference.

But access to justice is not improved by replacing one inaccessible system with an unaccountable one.

Vulnerable litigants should not be sold false certainty, inflated credentials or advocacy rights which the provider does not possess. Responsible support requires transparency about regulation, competence, limits, fees and redress.

“A course may teach someone how to support a litigant. It cannot, by itself, authorise them to become the litigant’s lawyer.”

What this means in practice

Someone considering this work should not ask only, “How quickly can I obtain a certificate?”

They should ask:

• Do I understand the legal boundary of the role?
• Can I identify when a case is beyond my competence?
• Do I understand safeguarding and domestic abuse?
• Can I protect confidential information properly?
• Can I help without taking control away from the litigant?
• Can I remain calm when the client is distressed or angry?
• Can I distinguish evidence from assumption?
• Will my involvement make the court’s job easier rather than harder?
• Am I prepared to be honest when the client needs regulated legal advice instead?

Those questions matter considerably more than how quickly a course can be completed.

Practical support for litigants in person

JSH Law provides practical, evidence-led and safeguarding-aware support for people navigating family proceedings without full representation. Support may include evidence organisation, chronologies, schedules, position statements, witness statement preparation, Cafcass material, hearing preparation and appeal paperwork.

The scope of any work should be agreed clearly in advance. Court outcomes always depend on the facts, evidence, procedural position, applicable law and judicial discretion.

Official sources and further reading

• Courts and Tribunals Judiciary: Practice Guidance—McKenzie Friends (Civil and Family Courts)
• Family Procedure Rules: Practice Direction 12B—Child Arrangements Programme
• Legal Services Act 2007: Schedule 2—Reserved Legal Activities
• Legal Services Act 2007: Schedule 3—Exempt Persons
• Julia Mazur and another v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP and others [2026] EWCA Civ 369
• Practice Direction 27C: Attendance of IDVAs and ISVAs
• Legal Services Board: Mapping Unregulated Legal Services
• GOV.UK: Consumer Protection Guidance for Unregulated Legal Services
• Information Commissioner’s Office: Data Protection Fee Guidance