Form C1A: Allegations of Harm and Domestic Violence Explained

Form C1A is the supplemental form you use to tell a family court in England or Wales about domestic abuse or harm to a child, and you complete it by working through its seven sections with specific, dated detail and then filing it alongside either your Form C100 application or your Form C7 response. The form covers abuse directed at you, at the children, or both. What you write triggers safeguarding checks before the first hearing, so precision matters from the first box you tick.

Who Needs to File It and When

You file a C1A in two situations. If you are the applicant making a C100 for a child arrangements order and you have safety concerns about the other party, you attach a C1A to your application. If you are the respondent answering someone else’s C100 and want to raise your own allegations, you attach a C1A to your C7 response.¹

There is a third situation that does not need a full form. If the applicant has already filed a C1A against you and you only want to comment on their allegations at this stage, use the response section on page 10 of their C1A. You get a chance to give a fuller statement later in proceedings. A full C1A is only needed from you if you have your own allegations to raise.¹

The current version of the form (C1A 06.26) runs to 14 pages and is available as a downloadable PDF from GOV.UK or through the online Child Arrangements Service.²

What Counts as Harm or Abuse

Practice Direction 12J, which governs how the family court handles these cases, defines abusive behaviour to include physical abuse, sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, and psychological or emotional abuse. A single incident is enough. Patterns of behaviour also count and often carry significant weight.³

Working Through the Seven Sections

Section 1: About You

Give your full name and gender, and confirm whether you are the applicant or respondent. List each child involved with name, date of birth, gender, and your relationship to the child. The section also asks whether you have filed a Form C8 to keep your contact details confidential.

Section 2: Details of Domestic Violence or Abuse

This is the core of the form. Tick the boxes that identify the type of abuse experienced by you or the children: physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, or financial. List any current protective orders, such as a non-molestation order, occupation order, forced marriage protection order, restraining order, or any undertaking given in place of an order.⁴

The table on page 3 asks you to describe each incident or pattern. For each entry, put when the behaviour started and how long it continued (an approximate period is acceptable if you cannot recall exact dates), what happened, who you sought help from, and what action was taken.¹

Specificity matters here more than anywhere else on the form. “He was aggressive” tells a judge very little. “On 14 March 2025 he threw a plate at me while our daughter was in the room, and I called the police, reference number 12345” gives the court something it can verify. Where you can, include police reference numbers, the names of social workers, the dates of GP visits, and the names of anyone at your child’s school you spoke to.

Present incidents in chronological order. The court looks for whether behaviour has escalated and what the current risk is, and a chronological account makes that easier to see than a scatter of dates.

Section 3: Abduction

If there is any risk the other party might take the children out of the country or hide them, this section covers it. Note previous threats or attempts, where the children currently are, whether the passport office has been notified, who holds the children’s passports, and whether police or any other agency is involved.

Section 4: Other Concerns About Your Children

Use this section for anything that does not fit the abuse categories in Section 2 but still affects the children. That might be drug or alcohol misuse, mental health issues affecting parenting, or neglect. Describe the effect on the children directly: changes in behaviour, problems at school, signs of emotional distress.

Section 5: Steps or Orders Required

Tell the court what protective measures you want. Options include a non-molestation order, a prohibited steps order (to prevent the other party from doing something specific, such as removing the child from your care), or a specific issue order. Also indicate what type of contact you think would be safe: unsupervised, supervised, or indirect contact such as phone or video calls only.

Section 6: Statement of Truth

Sign and date the form. If a solicitor is filing for you, they sign here as well. A false statement of truth can have serious consequences, so keep everything honest even where you have to approximate dates.

Section 7: Attending Court

Do not skip this section. You can ask for separate waiting rooms, separate entrances and exits, screens in the courtroom, a video link so you do not have to attend in person, separate toilets, an advance viewing of the courtroom, an interpreter, disability assistance, or a sign language signer.⁴ Being in the same waiting area as the other party can be intimidating, and these arrangements have to be requested rather than assumed.

Keeping Your Address Confidential

If you do not want the other party to know where you and the children are living, file a Form C8 with your C1A. A C8 keeps your address and contact details with the court and Cafcass (or Cafcass Cymru in Wales) only, not disclosed to any other person unless a judge specifically orders it.⁵ The form was updated in January 2025 to include a question about whether you are living in a refuge, along with revised guidance on omitted contact details.

Evidence at the Filing Stage

The C1A is a statement of allegations, not an evidence bundle. You do not attach documents to it when you file. What you do is name the evidence that exists: mention text messages, photographs of injuries, medical records, police reports, and third-party contacts (social services, GP, school, domestic abuse services) with dates and reference numbers where you have them. That signals to the court and to Cafcass what corroboration can be produced later.

Organise your records before you start filling in the form. Dates and details need to stay consistent across Section 2 and any later statement you provide.

How to Submit the Form

If you are the applicant, send the completed C1A with your C100.² If you are the respondent, file it with your C7 response.¹

You can submit online through the Child Arrangements Service, which lets you complete and file the C100, C1A, and C8 together.⁶ GOV.UK guidance for the C100 encourages online applications to avoid delay.⁷ On paper, send three copies of each document to your child’s local family court.

There is no separate fee for the C1A. The £232 C100 application fee covers the attached safeguarding documents, including the C1A and C8.² Respondents pay nothing to file a C1A with a C7 response. If you cannot afford the C100 fee, you can apply for a remission using Form EX160.⁸

The MIAM Exemption for Applicants

Applicants normally have to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) before filing a C100. Alleging domestic abuse exempts you, but you need evidence to claim the exemption. Practice Direction 3A lists the accepted forms, which include a relevant arrest, caution, or conviction for a domestic abuse offence; a protective injunction or non-molestation order; a domestic violence protection notice; a court finding of fact confirming abuse; a letter from a health professional confirming injuries consistent with abuse; or a letter from a domestic abuse support organisation.⁹

Tick the MIAM exemption box on your C100 and attach the supporting evidence. If you have no documentary evidence but domestic abuse is genuinely present, a mediator can still confirm the exemption during a MIAM.

What Happens After You File

The court sends a copy of your application and C1A to Cafcass (or Cafcass Cymru). A Family Court Adviser is allocated to your case and carries out safeguarding checks with the police, the local authority, and Cafcass’s own records.¹⁰

At least three days before the first hearing, Cafcass sends a safeguarding letter to the judge and both parties summarising those checks and any welfare issues raised.¹⁰ At the First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment, the judge reviews the C1A, the safeguarding letter, and any response from the other party, and considers whether the allegations are relevant to the child arrangements being decided. If they are, and the other party denies them, the judge may list the case for a separate fact-finding hearing.¹¹ The detail you put into the form is what a fact-finding hearing tests, so the work you do at the completion stage is the same work that carries the case later.

1
His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. Form C1A Allegations of Harm and Domestic Violence (Supplemental Information Form)
2
GOV.UK. Form C1A: Provide Supplemental Information When Making or Responding to Allegations of Harm and Domestic Violence
3
Justice UK. Practice Direction 12J – Child Arrangements and Contact Orders: Domestic Abuse and Harm
4
His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. Form C1A Allegations of Harm and Domestic Violence (Supplemental Information Form)
5
GOV.UK. Apply to Keep Your Contact Details Confidential: Form C8
6
MOJ Digital. Building and Improving the Child Arrangements Service
7
GOV.UK. Apply for a Court Order to Make Arrangements for a Child or Resolve a Dispute About Their Upbringing: Form C100
8
GOV.UK. Apply for Help With Court and Tribunal Fees: Form EX160
9
Justice UK. Practice Direction 3A – Family Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings
10
Cafcass. Overview of Our Involvement With You as You Go Through the Court Process
11
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Fact-Finding Hearings and Domestic Abuse in Private Law Children Proceedings – Guidance for Judges and Magistrates