Guidelines & lawyer's certificate

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Guidelines for email filing without notice applications to the Family Court

1. Structure the application as one PDF file in the following order:

  • Lawyer’s certificate (email filing certification)
  • Application
  • Affidavit(s)
  • Any exhibits or additional pages referred to in the affidavit
  • Other information such as Parenting Orders, Domestic Violence programme information, memorandum to counsel, etc
  • Information sheet (Information for Police required for FV)

Do not include a coversheet as part of the PDF file.

Any fee waiver application and accompanying evidence must be included as a separate PDF file in the same email.

2. The email subject line format is:

  • Applicant’s name v respondent’s name - title of application.

For example:

  • Smith v Smith - Application for Without Notice Protection Order.

3. Include a contact person and their phone number in your email in case court staff have any questions.

4. After you have filed, the court registry will acknowledge that your application has been received. If you do not receive acknowledgment within a reasonable time, please contact the court.

5. If you are filing for more than one client, these applications must be sent as separate emails. Multiple applications for one client may be sent in one email (for example, applications for Parenting and Protection Orders).

6. If you send a follow-up email, refer in the subject line to the application your email relates to.

7. Without notice applications that are placed on the National e-Duty platform after 3.30pm will normally be dealt with in the morning of the following working day. Counsel and parties are encouraged to file without notice applications earlier in the day to ensure they are received, processed and placed onto the National e-Duty platform before 3.30 pm, there is no guarantee that applications will be determined on the same day.

Lawyer's certificate

Use this to certify that the original application is identical to the scanned PDF copy emailed to the court. To do this, print the certificate template, sign it, and include it in the single PDF discussed in point 1 in the guidelines for email filing.

Lawyer's certificate [DOC, 23 KB]