FHDRA: What Happens at the First Family Court Hearing?
— An FHDRA is usually the first substantive hearing under the traditional Child Arrangements Programme. This practical guide explains what happens before and during the hearing, how Cafcass safeguarding information is used, what the court may decide, how domestic-abuse allegations affect case management and what litigants in person should prepare.
FHDRA: understand what the first Family Court hearing is actually for
The First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment is not usually a miniature final hearing. Its purpose is to identify safeguarding concerns, establish what is agreed and disputed, consider whether safe resolution is possible and decide what the case needs next.
The most useful preparation is therefore not to arrive ready to argue the entire history. It is to understand what the court needs to decide at this hearing and what directions are required for the next stage.
Does this guide apply to your case?
The Child Focused Model is replacing the traditional CAP route in an increasing number of court areas. In Child Focused Model cases, the procedure centres on Information Gathering and Assessment, a Child Impact Report and a Decision Hearing rather than the conventional FHDRA structure.
If your hearing notice or latest court order expressly lists an FHDRA — First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment, this guide is intended to help you understand that hearing.
Under the ordinary Child Arrangements Programme, the FHDRA should generally take place early in proceedings. Practice Direction 12B provides that it should ordinarily take place in the fifth week after issue, and no later than the sixth week, although urgency, service or other case-management issues can alter the timetable.
If you are not sure which procedural model your court is using, start with the wider JSH Law roadmap.
What is an FHDRA trying to achieve?
The judge is not simply asking, “Which parent is right?” The hearing is designed to establish what can safely be agreed, what must be investigated and what directions are needed for the child.
Check safeguarding
The court considers Cafcass safeguarding information and whether there are concerns about harm, domestic abuse or other risks.
Identify the real issues
What is actually agreed? What remains disputed? Which issues genuinely require a court decision?
Consider safe agreement
Where appropriate and safe, Cafcass and the court may explore whether some or all issues can be resolved.
Consider the child
The court considers whether the child's wishes and feelings are available and how the child should appropriately participate in the proceedings.
Consider interim arrangements
The court may need to decide what should happen temporarily while further information or evidence is obtained.
Give directions
The judge decides what reports, statements, disclosure, hearings or other work is needed before the case can progress.
What normally happens before an FHDRA?
In an ordinary Cafcass private-law case, important safeguarding work usually happens before anyone enters the courtroom.
The court sends Cafcass the application and relevant supporting material.
Safeguarding checks are undertaken to identify relevant welfare or safety concerns.
Cafcass ordinarily speaks separately with the adult parties about safeguarding and welfare concerns.
Cafcass provides initial safeguarding information and advice for the first hearing.
Understand the Cafcass safeguarding letter before the hearing
The safeguarding letter is not a final welfare report. It provides the court with initial safeguarding information and Cafcass's advice about what should happen next.
What does it contain?
It can include current arrangements, police and local-authority checks, information from the adult interviews, welfare concerns and Cafcass's initial analysis and advice.
Is every statement a finding?
No. A safeguarding letter can record allegations, reports by a party, professional information and Cafcass analysis. Those categories should not be treated as interchangeable.
What should you do with it?
Read it carefully. Identify factual inaccuracies, disputed material, safeguarding issues and the specific recommendation Cafcass is making to the court.
What can happen at the FHDRA?
The precise sequence varies, but these are the main functions the court is likely to work through.
The judge considers the safeguarding position
The court considers the Cafcass safeguarding letter or other available safeguarding information and any issues raised by the parties.
If essential safeguarding checks are not available, the court may need to adjourn rather than make an ordinary interim child-arrangements order without adequate information.
Cafcass and the court may explore agreement
Where there are no safeguarding reasons preventing it, the Family Court Adviser may assist the parties in considering whether some or all issues can be resolved.
Agreement is not valuable merely because it ends proceedings quickly. Any proposed arrangement still has to be safe and consistent with the child's welfare.
The court considers how the child should be involved
The judge may consider whether the child's wishes and feelings are already available, whether they need to be obtained and what form of child participation is appropriate.
The child is not being asked to decide the case. Their voice forms part of the wider welfare assessment.
The court identifies the live issues
A case can contain years of history but only a smaller number of issues may require determination before the next welfare decision can be made.
What no longer needs judicial determination?
What facts, risks or welfare questions remain live?
The court may consider interim arrangements
Depending on the facts, the court may consider interim living or contact arrangements, including indirect, supported or supervised arrangements where appropriate.
An interim order is not a final determination of the case. It is a temporary arrangement while unresolved issues are investigated or assessed.
The judge gives case-management directions
Directions can include witness statements, a section 7 report, disclosure, schedules, professional records, expert evidence, participation arrangements, fact-finding or a later Dispute Resolution Appointment or final hearing.
The sealed order should record what must be done, by whom and by when.
The court's directions determine the work required for the next stage.
If domestic abuse is raised, the FHDRA has additional safeguarding functions
Practice Direction 12J requires the court to consider domestic abuse specifically at the FHDRA. The court must identify the relevant factual and welfare issues, consider whether disputed allegations need determination and ensure that any interim arrangements do not expose the child or another parent to an unmanageable risk of harm.
Identify what is alleged
The court should distinguish the allegations, admissions, evidence and welfare issues that are relevant to the child's safety and future arrangements.
Consider fact-finding
A fact-finding hearing is not automatic. The question is whether findings are necessary for risk assessment or the later welfare decision.
Protect participation
The court should also consider vulnerability, participation directions and how to reduce harm or undue confrontation while preserving a fair hearing.
Five things to have clear before the FHDRA
You do not need to prepare the entire case for trial. You need enough clarity to help the court make safe early decisions and give useful directions.
A concise contribution usually becomes more useful when you can identify these four things:
If you have prepared a position statement, keep it proportionate to the hearing. An FHDRA position statement should help the judge understand the procedural problem and what you are asking the court to do at this stage — not attempt to reproduce every piece of evidence in the case.
Use the JSH Law Six-Question Check before simply saying the report is wrong
Where an important statement or recommendation affects the first hearing, examine the reasoning behind it.
This can help distinguish a factual error from a disputed allegation, an inference, a professional recommendation or a genuine safeguarding concern.
Use the JSH Law Six-Question CheckWhat can happen after an FHDRA?
There is no single standard outcome. The order should reflect what this particular case needs next.
The case ends by agreement
If a safe agreement is reached and the court considers it appropriate for the child, the proceedings may conclude with a consent order or other disposal.
Interim arrangements are made
The court may make temporary arrangements pending further investigation, assessment or a later hearing.
A section 7 report is ordered
Cafcass, Cafcass Cymru or a local authority may be directed to assess specified welfare issues.
A fact-finding hearing is listed
Where disputed facts need determination before welfare can safely be assessed, the court may direct fact-finding.
Further evidence or disclosure is directed
The court may order statements, professional records, police or local-authority material, expert evidence or other focused information.
A DRA or final hearing is listed
The case may move towards a Dispute Resolution Appointment or, where appropriate, straight towards final determination.
What tends to make an FHDRA harder than it needs to be?
The first hearing is usually about safe early decisions and what the case needs next, not presenting every document you possess.
Prioritise material errors, safeguarding issues and recommendations that affect the next decision.
Something reported to Cafcass does not automatically become an established fact because it appears in a professional document.
You do not need perfect legal drafting, but you should understand the practical direction or interim arrangement you are asking the court to consider.
The hearing type and existing directions determine what preparation is actually relevant.
Bring the discussion back to the child, the identified issue, the evidence needed and the next welfare decision.
After the FHDRA, work from the sealed order
What happens next should be recorded in the court order. Do not rely only on memory, informal discussion or what you expected the judge to order.
Read the whole order
Check the orders made, findings or admissions recorded, and all case-management directions.
Record every deadline
Note filing dates, service dates, report deadlines and the next hearing immediately.
Know your next task
Statements, schedules, disclosure, a report or hearing preparation should follow the order — not guesswork.
Prepare for the next decision
Once the order is clear, narrow your work to what the court needs at the next stage.
Have an FHDRA coming up and not sure what to prepare?
Start with the application, Cafcass safeguarding letter if available, the hearing notice and any existing orders. JSH Law can help identify the live issues, what the court is likely to need at the first hearing and the next defined piece of preparation.
I do not understand the procedural position
Identify what has been filed, what the hearing is for and what the court needs next.
Family Court Navigation →I am worried about the Cafcass material
Work through safeguarding advice, disputed material and recommendations in a focused way.
Safeguarding & Cafcass Support →I need a position statement or evidence organised
Prepare concise material directed to the purpose of the first hearing.
Court Document Support →I want support at the hearing
Prepare for the issues, documents and orders sought and consider McKenzie Friend assistance.
Hearing & McKenzie Friend Support →You do not need to organise your entire case before making contact. Start with the FHDRA date, the application and the immediate problem you need to solve.
Book a 15-minute initial consultationRules and official guidance
The hearing is governed by the Family Procedure Rules, Practice Directions and the specific directions made in your own case.
Practical family-court guidance designed to help you understand what matters next
This FHDRA guide sits within a wider library of JSH Law resources for litigants in person. The aim is not to overwhelm you with legal information, but to help you identify the procedural issue, understand the material in front of you and prepare proportionately for the next decision or hearing.
Evidence-led
Guidance distinguishes allegations, evidence, professional opinion and court findings, and encourages important conclusions to be traced back to their source.
Procedurally grounded
Resources connect practical preparation with the Family Procedure Rules, Practice Directions, court orders and the procedural stage of the case.
Accessible by design
Content is structured for clarity on phone, tablet and desktop, with focused sections intended to reduce unnecessary complexity and information overload.
Clear & practical
The emphasis is on plain English, usable preparation and identifying what you may need to do next — without oversimplifying the law or the evidence.
This FHDRA guide is one part of the wider JSH Law resource library. Browse practical guidance on Cafcass, safeguarding, evidence, hearings, court documents, applications and case preparation.
Browse All ResourcesThis guide provides general legal and procedural information about First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointments in private children proceedings. It is not individual legal advice and cannot predict what directions or orders will be made in a particular case.
The FHDRA forms part of the traditional Child Arrangements Programme. The Child Focused Model is being introduced across England in phases and uses a different procedural structure. Always check the hearing notice, latest sealed order and procedure being used by the court dealing with your proceedings.
Safeguarding concerns, domestic abuse, urgency, incomplete checks, local-authority involvement, participation needs and other case-specific issues can materially change what happens at the first hearing.
JSH Law Ltd provides non-reserved legal services, litigation support and McKenzie Friend assistance. JSH Law Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and does not conduct litigation or provide reserved legal representation on your behalf. Litigants in person remain responsible for their proceedings, deadlines, filing, service and compliance with court orders unless a lawful task has expressly been agreed otherwise.
Procedural position reviewed: September 2026.
