Prepare Your Court Bundle for Darlington Magistrates' Court and Family Court

Family Court · Darlington

Preparing a bundle for a hearing at Darlington Magistrates' Court and Family Court

Family hearings at Darlington Magistrates' Court and Family Court follow the family court's own bundle rules, not the civil ones. Here is what those rules require for a hearing in Darlington.

1. 1

   Practice Direction 27A applies to every family hearing

   The current PD27A came into force on 2 March 2026. It applies to all hearings in the family court, whether the bundle is being filed for the first time or for a later hearing. Any direction the court makes in your own case takes priority.

   Sources: FPR Practice Direction 27A, paras 2.1, 2.3 and 4.1 (opens in a new tab)

2. 2

   Who prepares the bundle

   By default the applicant prepares, files and serves the bundle. If the applicant is representing themselves and the respondent has a lawyer, the represented respondent does it instead, unless the court directs otherwise.

   Sources: FPR Practice Direction 27A, paras 4.5 and 4.6 (opens in a new tab)

3. 3

   Page numbering depends on the type of case

   In children, domestic abuse and other cases that are not financial remedy proceedings, pages use Bates numbering: the first section starts at A1, the second at B1, and so on, with an unpaginated index at the front. In financial remedy proceedings, pages are numbered 1, 2, 3 in Arabic numerals throughout, and an e-bundle's page numbers must match its PDF page numbers.

   Sources: FPR Practice Direction 27A, paras 1.2, 6.2 and 7.2 (opens in a new tab)

4. 4

   Format, length and what to leave out

   An e-bundle must be a PDF of no more than 350 A4 pages unless the court gives permission to exceed that. Unless the court directs otherwise, leave out general correspondence, emails, texts and WhatsApp messages, bank statements and photographs — though a specific document the court needs to read can still go in.

   Sources: FPR Practice Direction 27A, paras 5.2 and 11.2 (opens in a new tab)

5. 5

   The timetable before the hearing

   Seven working days before: the parties must try to agree the contents. Five working days before: the bundle must be served and filed. By 11am on the working day before: any preliminary documents not yet filed, such as position statements, must be served and filed.

   Sources: FPR Practice Direction 27A, para 13.2 (opens in a new tab)

In BundleCreator, 'Sections' numbering is designed for PD27A Bates numbering, and 'Numeric' numbering for financial remedy bundles. Financial remedy bundles start in Numeric mode, and you can switch either way in the editor.