A position statement is a short written document in which a party to family proceedings in England and Wales tells the court, before a hearing, what the hearing is about, what is agreed, what is in dispute and what orders or directions the party asks the court to make. Practice Direction 27A defines it, in proceedings other than financial remedy proceedings, as “any form of written submission by a party, or their advocate, which sets out a party’s position on the issues to be determined at the particular hearing”.[1] A position statement is a submission rather than evidence: it must not introduce new evidence or exhibits, and it is not verified by a statement of truth, which distinguishes it from a witness statement under Part 22 of the Family Procedure Rules.[1][2]
Since 2 March 2026 position statements have been regulated for the first time by a practice direction. The new Practice Direction 27A, substituted by Practice Direction Update No. 6 of 2025, limits a position statement in children and other non-financial cases to three pages “unless the court accepts the case is complex”, sets limits of six, eight, twelve and fifteen pages for the successive hearings in financial remedy proceedings, requires numbered paragraphs, cross-references to the bundle and a statement of the orders sought, and requires the document to be filed “by 11am on the working day before the hearing”.[1][3] A fresh position statement must be prepared for every hearing.[1]
Definition and purpose
Practice Direction 27A gives two definitions, reflecting the different practice of the two main branches of family work. In financial remedy proceedings “‘position statement’ is the term for any form of written submission by a party, or their advocate, including a skeleton argument”.[1] In all other proceedings, including private and public law children cases, the term covers any written submission that “sets out a party’s position on the issues to be determined at the particular hearing”, and “a skeleton argument is not part of a position statement” but a separate document setting out the party’s legal arguments.[1]
The purpose is to let the judge, who may have had little time to read the file, understand each party’s case before the hearing starts. The Practice Direction requires every position statement to “both define and confine the matters in dispute to be resolved at the hearing” and to “set out the directions or orders sought”.[1] For a litigant in person it is often the only opportunity to put a considered account of their position before the court in writing, since oral submissions at a short hearing are limited and a witness statement may not have been directed.
Position statements are one of the “preliminary documents” that sit at the front of the court bundle. In financial remedy proceedings the preliminary documents also include the composite case summary (Form ES1), the composite schedule of assets (Form ES2), a chronology, Form FM5 where applicable, a list of essential reading and, for hearings over two hours, a hearing template.[1] In other proceedings they include a case summary, statement of issues, chronology, reading list and witness template, with each party filing its own position statement and, where needed, skeleton argument.[1]
Legal basis
The governing provisions are paragraphs 6.11 to 6.14 (financial remedy proceedings) and 7.17 to 7.20 (all other proceedings) of Practice Direction 27A, “Family Proceedings: Court Bundles”, together with paragraph 8.1 (length of documents), Chapters 11 and 12 (format) and paragraph 13.2 (timetable).[1] This version of the Practice Direction was made by Practice Direction Update No. 6 of 2025, signed by the President of the Family Division on 13 November 2025 and approved on behalf of the Lord Chancellor on 20 November 2025, which provides: “For Practice Direction 27A (Family Proceedings: Court Bundles …) substitute the new Practice Direction 27A”, and came into force on 2 March 2026.[3][1]
Before 2 March 2026 the previous Practice Direction 27A, in force since 2014, listed a position statement among the preliminary documents to be lodged with the court by 11am on the day before the hearing, but did not define the document, limit its length or prescribe its contents.[4][5] In the Financial Remedies Court those matters were governed from 11 January 2022 by the Statement on the Efficient Conduct of Financial Remedy Hearings (the “Efficiency Statement”) issued by the national lead judges with the President’s authority, whose page limits the new Practice Direction adopted.[6][5] The Efficiency Statement has since been merged into the Financial Remedies Guide 2026, published on 13 March 2026, which “replaces and supersedes” it and restates the position statement rules with the added requirement that documents be saved as PDFs.[7][8]
In children proceedings the three-page limit was new in March 2026. The Practice Direction Update also required position statements in all proceedings, where applicable, to inform the court of “the parties’ compliance with the duty to negotiate openly and reasonably” and “the parties’ views on using non-court dispute resolution as a means of resolving the matters in dispute”, connecting the document to the court’s duty under Part 3 of the Rules.[1][9]
Length limits
In proceedings other than for a financial remedy a position statement must “be concise and not exceed 3 pages, unless the court accepts the case is complex and directs a different maximum number of pages”.[1] In financial remedy proceedings the limits are 6 pages for the first appointment or first hearing, 8 pages for any other interim hearing, 12 pages for the FDR appointment and 15 pages for the final hearing; the first two limits include any attached schedules, and the FDR and final hearing limits exclude agreed documents but include any other schedules.[1] Paragraph 8.1 confirms these limits apply to documents in the bundle and lists them alongside the limits for other preliminary documents.[1]
| Hearing | Maximum length | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Any hearing in children or other non-financial proceedings | 3 pages, unless the court accepts the case is complex and directs otherwise | PD27A para 7.18(a)[1] |
| Financial remedy: first appointment or first hearing | 6 pages including attached schedules | PD27A para 6.12(a)(i)[1] |
| Financial remedy: other interim hearing | 8 pages including attached schedules | PD27A para 6.12(a)(ii)[1] |
| Financial remedy: FDR appointment | 12 pages excluding agreed documents | PD27A para 6.12(a)(iii)[1] |
| Financial remedy: final hearing | 15 pages excluding agreed documents | PD27A para 6.12(a)(iv)[1] |
| Financial remedy at High Court judge level: first appointment | 10 pages | Financial Remedies Guide 2026[8] |
| Case summary (for comparison) | 6 pages | PD27A para 8.1[1] |
| Statement of issues (for comparison) | 2 pages | PD27A para 8.1[1] |
| Chronology (for comparison) | 10 pages | PD27A para 8.1[1] |
A page means an A4 page in the format the Practice Direction prescribes for all bundle documents: “no smaller than 12 point font, with 1.5 or double line spacing and with margins each side of the page”, in Arial or Times New Roman, Arial being noted as “generally considered to be more accessible to neurodiverse readers”.[1] A limit cannot be evaded by reducing the font or the spacing. Where a party considers the limit too short, the proper course is to ask the court for a direction permitting a longer document, in advance of the hearing.[1]
Contents
The Practice Direction lists what a position statement should do in near-identical terms for both kinds of proceedings. It should: be concise and within the page limit; “both define and confine the matters in dispute to be resolved at the hearing”; “be set out in numbered paragraphs”; “be cross-referenced to any relevant documents in the bundle”; “be self-contained and not incorporate by reference material from previous position statements”; “not include extensive quotations from documents”; not introduce new evidence (in financial cases, “any new factual allegations or evidence”); “not include any exhibits”; “set out the directions or orders sought”; and, where applicable, inform the court about compliance with the duty to negotiate openly and reasonably and the parties’ views on non-court dispute resolution.[1]
Where an authority is cited, the statement “must first state the proposition of law the authority demonstrates; and then identify the parts of the authority that support the proposition, but without extensive quotation from it”.[1] Copies of authorities go in a separate bundle limited to ten, and a copy or link must be given in advance to any litigant in person.[1] Every preliminary document must state the date of the hearing beneath its heading and be “as short and succinct as possible”.[1]
In practice a position statement for a children hearing is usually organised as: a heading with the case number, the parties and the date of the hearing; a paragraph on what the hearing is for; what is agreed; the issues in dispute; the party’s position on each, with bundle page references; and the orders or directions sought. A worked structure on those lines, written for people preparing their own document, is published by McKenzie Friend Services, an information site operated by Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki.[10] Because the document is a submission, it should be written in measured terms; allegations belong in a witness statement or Form C1A, where they are verified by a statement of truth and can be tested.
Timing and filing
Paragraph 13.2 of Practice Direction 27A sets the timetable, subject to any case-specific direction: the parties should seek to agree the contents of the bundle seven working days before the hearing, the bundle must be served and filed five working days before, and the preliminary documents, including position statements, must be filed by “11am on the working day before the hearing”.[1] In the Financial Remedies Court the Guide adds that the position statement is to be uploaded by 11:00 on the working day before and exchanged between the parties within one hour thereafter.[8]
Each party files its own position statement; the party responsible for the bundle does not prepare the other side’s.[1] Where the bundle is uploaded to an HM Courts and Tribunals Service portal the preliminary documents are added there; otherwise they are sent by email to the court office or the judge’s clerk as directed, and served on every other party at the same time.[1] The guide for litigants in person issued alongside the Practice Direction explains the filing routes available to a party without a lawyer.[11] A litigant in person who cannot meet the deadline should file what they can and explain the delay at the start of the hearing; a late document is better than none, but the court is not obliged to read it.
The 11am rule is not new. The previous Practice Direction contained the same time, and its habitual breach was condemned by the President of the Family Division in Re W (Children) [2014] EWFC 22 and Re L (A Child) [2015] EWFC 15, in which he described continuing non-compliance with PD27A by the professions as “simply unacceptable”.[4][12]
Difference from a witness statement
| Feature | Position statement | Witness statement |
|---|---|---|
| Governing provision | Practice Direction 27A, paras 6.11 to 6.14 and 7.17 to 7.20[1] | FPR Part 22, rule 22.4, and Practice Direction 22A[2] |
| Nature | A written submission: argument and the orders sought[1] | Evidence: “a written statement signed by a person which contains the evidence which that person would be allowed to give orally”[2] |
| Statement of truth | Not required | Required under Part 17; a false statement may be a contempt[2] |
| New facts or evidence | Must not introduce any new evidence or exhibits[1] | Is the vehicle for facts and exhibits, filed when the court directs[2] |
| When filed | By 11am on the working day before each hearing, afresh each time[1] | In accordance with the court’s directions, usually weeks before a final hearing[2] |
| Length | 3 pages (children and other cases); 6 to 15 pages (financial remedy)[1] | 25 pages exclusive of exhibits unless the court directs otherwise[1] |
| Cross-examination | Not evidence, so not cross-examined on | The maker must attend to be cross-examined unless the court directs otherwise[2] |
Under rule 22.1 the court controls the evidence by directing “the issues on which it requires evidence; the nature of the evidence which it requires to decide those issues; and the way in which the evidence is to be placed before the court”.[2] A party cannot use a position statement to put in evidence that the court has not directed. Rule 22.4 defines a witness statement as a signed written statement containing the evidence the person would be allowed to give orally, complying with Practice Direction 22A and verified by a statement of truth, and rule 22.6 requires a party who has served one to call the witness unless the court directs otherwise.[2] Practice Direction 27A caps a witness statement at 25 pages exclusive of exhibits.[1] The two documents therefore do different jobs: the witness statement proves facts; the position statement tells the court what to do with them.
Consequences of non-compliance
Paragraph 3.1 of Practice Direction 27A provides that failure to comply with any part of it “may result in the court removing the case from the list or putting the case further back in the list and may also result in an adverse costs order or a ‘wasted costs’ order”.[1] A position statement that is over length, late, or that introduces new evidence may be refused, read only in part, or disregarded, and the judge may direct that a compliant version be filed. Where the default is a lawyer’s, a wasted costs order against the lawyer personally is available; where it is a litigant in person’s, the usual consequence is that the court proceeds without the benefit of the document.
The President’s judgments in Re W and Re L set the tone that the current Practice Direction continues. In Re L Sir James Munby said that “this endemic failure of the professions to comply with PD27A must end, and it must end now”, and warned that defaulters could expect “public condemnation in judgments”, financial penalties and having their cases put to the back of the list.[12] Those warnings were directed at lawyers; the courts generally allow more latitude to unrepresented parties, consistently with the Equal Treatment Bench Book, but the page limits and the 11am deadline apply to everyone.
History
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| 2014 | The previous Practice Direction 27A was issued, requiring preliminary documents including position statements to be lodged by 11am on the day before the hearing, without defining or limiting them[4][5] |
| 25 July 2014 and 26 February 2015 | Re W and Re L: the President condemned routine non-compliance with PD27A, including late preliminary documents[4][12] |
| 11 January 2022 | The Financial Remedies Court’s Efficiency Statement set page limits for position statements at each stage of a financial remedy case and required filing by 11am on the working day before[6][5] |
| 13 November 2025 | Practice Direction Update No. 6 of 2025 was signed, substituting a new PD27A[3] |
| 2 March 2026 | The new PD27A came into force, defining position statements, applying a three-page limit in children and other cases and the Efficiency Statement limits in financial cases, and requiring statements on the duty to negotiate openly and on non-court dispute resolution; a guide for litigants in person was issued the same day[1][11] |
| 13 March 2026 | The Financial Remedies Guide 2026 superseded the Efficiency Statement and restated the rules for the Financial Remedies Court[7][8] |
See also
- Court bundle – where the position statement sits
- Form FM5 – the statement of position on non-court dispute resolution
- Litigant in person
- First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment – the first hearing for which a position statement is usually needed
- Dispute resolution appointment
- Financial remedy proceedings – the six to fifteen page limits
- Final hearing
- Non-court dispute resolution and FPR Part 3
References
- Practice Direction 27A: Family Proceedings: Court Bundles. Ministry of Justice. In force 2 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 22: Evidence. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Family Procedure Rules: Practice Direction Update No. 6 of 2025. Ministry of Justice. Signed by the President of the Family Division on 13 November 2025 and approved on behalf of the Lord Chancellor on 20 November 2025; substitutes Practice Direction 27A with effect from 2 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Re W (Children) [2014] EWFC 22. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 25 July 2014. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Alexander Chandler KC. Bundle of joy: new Practice Direction on bundles, position statements etc., effective 2 March 2026. Financial Remedies Journal. 9 December 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Notice from the Financial Remedies Court: Statement on the Efficient Conduct of Financial Remedy Hearings. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 12 January 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Financial Remedies Guide 2026 (announcement). Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 13 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Financial Remedies Guide 2026. Financial Remedies Court, Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 13 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 3: Non-court dispute resolution. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- How to write a position statement. McKenzie Friend Services (Family Legal Ltd). last checked 6 August 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Preparing court bundles for family proceedings: guide for litigants in person. Office of the President of the Family Division. 2 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
- Re L (A Child) [2015] EWFC 15. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 26 February 2015. Accessed 5 September 2026.
External links
- Practice Direction 27A (justice.gov.uk) – current text
- Practice Direction Update No. 6 of 2025 – the amending instrument
- Financial Remedies Guide 2026 (judiciary.uk)
- Preparing court bundles: guide for litigants in person
- Family Procedure Rules Part 22 – witness statements
This article is part of Family Court Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd. It is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.