Family Law Service

Family Law Service is a fixed-fee family law service operating in England and Wales. It is a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, a private limited company incorporated on 6 May 2025 with its registered office at Access Business Centre, Willoughby Road, Bracknell, which also trades as Mediate UK, a family mediation provider.[1][2] The service launched in November 2025 and sells, at published prices that include VAT, paralegal-drafted consent orders, completion of family court forms, preparation sessions with McKenzie Friends, fixed-fee advice sessions with solicitors and, from September 2026, an automated settlement review tool.[3][4][5][6]

Family Law Service is not itself regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is not a law firm. Its website states: “Family Legal Ltd t/as Family Law Service is not SRA-regulated. We do offer both SRA-regulated solicitor services (clearly marked) and unregulated legal information & document services that exclude reserved legal activities.”[4][7] The solicitor advice it sells is delivered by two solicitors of DFA Law LLP, a firm regulated by the SRA under number 484839; its document drafting by paralegals and its McKenzie Friend work are unregulated legal services, lawful because they fall outside the reserved legal activities defined by the Legal Services Act 2007.[7][8][9] The model is a form of unbundled legal services: a client buys a defined piece of work at a fixed price and remains a litigant in person for everything else.

Written by Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK and Associate Member of Resolution. Reviewed by Belinda Atkins, Managing Director of Mediate UK. Last reviewed 6 September 2026; last updated 6 September 2026; next scheduled review March 2027.

Overview

Family Law Service is an online service that sells defined pieces of family law work at fixed prices to people who are separating or divorcing in England and Wales. Its owner describes it as sitting “between full solicitor representation and self-representation with a published price for every piece of work”.[3] The work falls into four groups: document drafting by paralegals, principally the clean break consent order at £499 including VAT; completion of court forms such as the C100 and Form A by McKenzie Friends or paralegals; preparation meetings and case reviews for people representing themselves; and one-hour advice sessions with a solicitor of an SRA-regulated firm at £299 including VAT.[10][11][12][5][6] A fifth product, an automated review of a proposed financial settlement at £9.50, was shown as launching in September 2026.[13]

The service does not represent clients in court, does not conduct litigation on their behalf and, outside the solicitor sessions, does not give legal advice; its pages describe the unregulated products as legal information and document services.[4][7] It operates in the part of the legal market that the Legal Services Board and the Competition and Markets Authority describe as unregulated legal services, in which providers who are not authorised persons under the Legal Services Act 2007 may lawfully carry out work that is not a reserved legal activity.[14][15][9] The context in which such services are bought is one in which, in January to March 2026, neither party had legal representation in 49 per cent of private law children disposals in the family court, and both parties were represented in only 13 per cent.[16]

Because the company that owns Family Law Service also publishes this wiki, the article relies on public registers (Companies House, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Solicitors Register) for every status claim, quotes the company’s own pages for its prices and descriptions, and attributes every company figure as the company’s own. The editorial rules are set out on About this site.

History

Family Legal Ltd was incorporated on 6 May 2025 as the holding company for a group of brands that had grown from Mediate UK, a family mediation service founded in October 2011 as Surrey Mediation Service.[1][3] The company’s history page records that “Family Law Service launched in November 2025, co-founded by Jess Knauf, to sit between full solicitor representation and self-representation with a published price for every piece of work”.[3] The Information Commissioner’s Office entry for Family Legal Ltd, registered on 20 October 2025, lists Family Law Service among the company’s other names, which is the earliest independent record of the name located for this article.[2]

The service’s own guide pages date from January 2026 onwards, its complaints and privacy policies are dated 20 January 2026, and its Trustpilot profile was claimed in January 2026.[17][18][19][20] During 2026 the company launched specialist information sites on subjects that correspond to Family Law Service products, including ConsentOrder.org.uk and C100Form.co.uk, and announced an automated settlement review tool for September 2026.[3][21][22][13] A dated timeline is on History of Family Law Service.

Services

The flagship product is the online clean break consent order: “a paralegal-drafted Clean Break Consent Order based on what you and your ex-partner have agreed”, with Form A completed and the D81 statement of information drafted for both parties, at £499 including VAT, with a free redraft if the court rejects the order because of a drafting mistake.[10] The company states that it is “only suitable if you have one property, no business and no pension share or spousal maintenance”; cases outside those limits are directed to a premium consent order at £2,499 drafted by the partner firm’s solicitors.[10][23]

Court form completion covers the C100 application about children (£240), the C1A supplement (£225), the C2 (£240), Form A (£240), Form E (£250) and the FL401 application for a non-molestation or occupation order (£399).[6][5] The C100 work is carried out by two McKenzie Friends named on the site, and a package combining the C100 with a one-to-one preparation session for the Cafcass safeguarding interview is £350.[11][24] Preparation products for people representing themselves include a Cafcass preparation meeting (£150), court preparation meetings (£225 for children cases, £250 for financial cases), a position statement (£245 to £250), packages combining the two (£425), TOLATA support (£250) and a case review (£499).[5][6]

Legal advice is sold as a one-hour product at £299 including VAT for finances or for children. The service page describes it as a 20-minute telephone consultation with a family solicitor followed by a written report setting out the advice and recommended next steps; the solicitors named are Rachel Adams and Emma Kirkland.[12] The AI Barrister Review, at £9.50, is described as “a low-cost, largely automated way for you to get a structured, England & Wales-based overview of what a court might look at”, delivered “by our AI system, not by a barrister”; the page states that it is “information, not legal advice” and “does not create a solicitor-client relationship”.[13] Each product is described on Services, Clean break consent order service, Court form completion and McKenzie Friend support, Legal advice packages and AI Barrister Review.

Prices

The company states that “All prices include VAT; any mandatory third-party fees, such as court fees, are shown clearly before you buy.”[4] The prices below were read from the company’s pages on 6 September 2026 and are the company’s own; they can change without notice.

Family Law Service published prices as at 6 September 2026
ServicePrice (including VAT)Delivered by
Online clean break consent order£499Paralegal (unregulated)[10]
Premium consent order£2,499Solicitors of DFA Law LLP (SRA-regulated)[23]
Form C100 completion£240McKenzie Friends (unregulated)[11]
Form C100 and Cafcass preparation package£350McKenzie Friends (unregulated)[24]
Form C1A; Form C2£225; £240Not stated on the price list[6]
Form A; Form E£240; £250Not stated on the price list[5]
FL401 completion£399Not stated on the price list[5]
Cafcass preparation meeting£150Not stated on the price list[6]
Court preparation meeting£225 (children); £250 (finances)Not stated on the price list[6][5]
Position statement£250 (children); £245 (finances)Not stated on the price list[6][5]
Legal advice, one hour (finances or children)£299Solicitors of DFA Law LLP (SRA-regulated)[12][5][6]
Case review£499Not stated on the price list[5][6]
AI Barrister Review£9.50Automated; shown as launching September 2026[13]

Court fees are paid separately to HM Courts and Tribunals Service. On the fee schedule EX50 updated 13 July 2026, an application by consent for a financial order (fee 5.1) is £62, a Children Act 1989 section 8 application such as the C100 is £270 and a divorce application is £628.[25] Full fee tables are on Family court fees and Divorce fees. For comparison, Mediate UK, the same company’s mediation brand, sells a solicitor-drafted consent order package that includes up to four hours of mediation at £1,649 plus VAT per person.[26]

Regulation and professional standards

Family Law Service is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The statement in the footer of every page of its website reads: “Family Legal Ltd t/as Family Law Service is not SRA-regulated. We do offer both SRA-regulated solicitor services (clearly marked) and unregulated legal information & document services that exclude reserved legal activities.”[4][7] Three regulatory positions therefore apply inside one service. Advice sessions and the premium consent order are delivered by Rachel Adams and Emma Kirkland, solicitors whose Solicitors Register entries show them as practising at DFA Law LLP, a licensed body regulated by the SRA under number 484839.[27][28][8] Paralegal drafting, court form completion, preparation meetings and McKenzie Friend support are unregulated. The company itself is subject to the general law, including consumer protection law, and to the Information Commissioner for data protection.[15][2]

The distinction rests on the Legal Services Act 2007. Section 12 lists six reserved legal activities, including “the exercise of a right of audience” and “the conduct of litigation”, which only authorised persons may carry on; section 14 makes it an offence for anyone else to do so.[9][29] Drafting a document for a client to file, completing a form that the client signs, and giving legal information or advice are not reserved activities, so an unregulated business may lawfully offer them.[30][15] What the client gives up is the set of protections attached to regulated firms: the Legal Ombudsman states that it “can only help if your legal service provider is regulated”, and the SRA Compensation Fund and the SRA’s compulsory professional indemnity insurance do not extend to unregulated providers.[31][15][32]

The company’s complaints policy, dated January 2026, acknowledges complaints within five working days and aims to respond in full within 28 days; it directs complaints about solicitor work to the SRA after the internal procedure, complaints about mediation to the Family Mediation Standards Board, and states that for its unregulated services the client’s further recourse is “your statutory consumer rights under UK consumer law”.[18] No statement of professional indemnity insurance for the unregulated work was found on the pages consulted. The full analysis, including what each service type does and does not carry, is on Regulation and professional standards.

People

Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK, is described on the company’s pages as co-founder of Family Law Service; her Mediate UK profile states “Co-founder of Family Law Service” and Family Legal Ltd’s leadership page gives the same title.[33][34][3] Amber Carter is Managing Director of Family Legal Ltd, the legal entity behind the service.[34] No founder of Family Legal Ltd is named on this wiki.

The about page names the people who deliver the work. Rachel Adams, Head of Family Law at DFA Law LLP, and Emma Kirkland, a solicitor at the same firm, deliver the advice sessions and the premium consent order; both are recorded on the Solicitors Register as practising solicitors, admitted in 2010 and 2012 respectively.[7][27][28] Karen Hamilton and Lisa Huddleston are named as McKenzie Friends and founders of Family Harmony; Lee Simons as a “Law Practitioner (South East)” who is undertaking the Chartered Legal Executive qualification; and Lucy Nord-Harper as a paralegal specialising in consent orders and court documents (the consent order product page spells the surname “Noord-Harper”).[7][10] Roles and the sources for each are on People.

Family Law Service has no separate legal personality. Contracts with clients, the ICO registration and the complaints policy are all in the name of Family Legal Ltd, whose only registered SIC code is 69109, “other legal activities not elsewhere classified”.[1][2][19] The company describes itself as “not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and does not claim to be” and as “not itself a firm of solicitors”.[35][36] Its brands, as listed by the company, include Mediate UK, London Mediation Service, Surrey Mediation Service, MIAM UK, ConsentOrder, C100 Form, Child Maintenance, Legal Aid 60, Divorce Magpie, The Divorce Circle, Kids and Divorce, From Dads to Dads, Maypole and Mediation Guide.[37] The corporate facts are on Family Legal Ltd.

Mediate UK is the company’s original business, a family mediation provider whose mediators are registered with the Family Mediation Council and which holds a Legal Aid Agency family mediation contract.[35][3] The two brands refer clients to one another: Mediate UK’s legal advice page states that its one-hour package “can be purchased online through our sister company, Family Law Service”, and the premium consent order includes a facilitated meeting with a mediator.[38][23] The price lists are separate, and a client of one brand is under no obligation to use the other. The relationship is described on Mediate UK.

Information sites and tools

Family Legal Ltd operates specialist information sites on the subjects of Family Law Service’s main products. ConsentOrder.org.uk states that it is “operated by Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127” and sells the same £499 clean break consent order; C100Form.co.uk states that it is “operated by Family Legal Ltd” and that C100 completion is handled by Family Law Service; and McKenzie Friend Services describes itself as “run by the same small team that runs Family Law Service” and as “a guide, not a service”.[21][39][22][40] Each is a company site, and none is independent of Family Law Service. The Family Law Service site also publishes guide articles, for example on the cost of a consent order and on what a McKenzie Friend may do, written under the name of Jess Knauf.[41][17] These sites, the guides and the six reference wikis are described on Educational resources.

Reception

Independent review data about Family Law Service is limited. Its Trustpilot profile, claimed in January 2026, carried no reviews on 5 September 2026.[20] The service’s product pages display the figures “715+” five-star reviews and “23,000+” clients helped; these are the company’s figures for the Family Legal Ltd group, which has provided mediation since 2011, and not figures for Family Law Service, which began in November 2025.[10][11][3] No regulatory decision, court judgment or press report concerning Family Law Service was located in the sources consulted; the Solicitors Register shows no published decision against DFA Law LLP or either named solicitor.[8][27][28]

The wider debate about unregulated legal services applies to the model. Legal Services Board research found that unregulated providers were “twice as likely to introduce new or improved services successfully” and offered “lower upfront costs”, but that their customers “do not have access to redress through the Legal Ombudsman” and reported higher dissatisfaction.[42][14] The Competition and Markets Authority’s guidance, updated 30 January 2026, states that “it is important that businesses providing unregulated legal services do not lead consumers to believe that their activities are regulated or approved by a regulator”.[15] Family Law Service’s footer statement, quoted above, is its response to that requirement; whether the phrase “clearly marked” is met on every product page is a matter for the reader, since the price lists consulted for this article did not label each line with its regulatory status.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. FAMILY LEGAL LTD, company number 16431127: overview. Companies House. Active private limited company incorporated 6 May 2025; registered office Access Business Centre, Willoughby Road, Bracknell RG12 8FB; SIC 69109; no previous names. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  2. Register of data protection fee payers: entry ZC018853, Family Legal Ltd. Information Commissioner’s Office. Registered 20 October 2025, expiry 19 October 2026; other names listed: Family Law Service, London Mediation Service, Mediate UK, Surrey Mediation Service. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  3. Our history. Family Legal Ltd. States “Family Law Service launched in November 2025, co-founded by Jess Knauf, to sit between full solicitor representation and self-representation with a published price for every piece of work”. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  4. Fixed fee family law and divorce help. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Company home page; footer regulatory statement; telephone 0333 339 5505; ICO ZC018853; “All prices include VAT”; describes Jess Knauf as “our co-founder”. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  5. Property and finances: services and prices. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Company price list as at 6 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  6. Child arrangements: services and prices. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Company price list as at 6 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  7. About us. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Regulatory statement; SRA number 484839 shown for solicitors providing legal advice; names the team. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  8. Solicitors Register: DFA Law LLP, SRA number 484839. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Licensed body since 1 April 2021, authorised for all legal services; head office 2 Waterside Way, Northampton NN4 7XD; no published decisions. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  9. Legal Services Act 2007, section 12: meaning of reserved legal activity. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  10. Online clean break consent order. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). £499 including VAT as at 6 September 2026; paralegal-drafted; Form A and D81 included; free redraft guarantee; suitable only where there is one property, no business and no pension share or spousal maintenance. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  11. Form C100. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). £240 including VAT as at 6 September 2026; completed by the named McKenzie Friends. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  12. Legal advice: finances, 1 hour. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). £299 including VAT as at 6 September 2026; described as a 20-minute telephone consultation with a solicitor plus a written report. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  13. AI Barrister Review. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Page shown as “Coming soon, launching September 2026” on 6 September 2026; £9.50; “information, not legal advice”. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  14. Mapping unregulated legal services. Legal Services Board. Research summary; identifies family law, McKenzie Friends and paralegal services among areas with unregulated providers. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  15. Unregulated legal services: consumer protection law guidance. Competition and Markets Authority. updated 30 January 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  16. Family Court Statistics Quarterly: January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. Private law disposals with neither party represented 49 per cent; both parties represented 13 per cent; mean 35 weeks to disposal. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  17. McKenzie Friend: what they can and can’t do. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). States McKenzie Friends are “not regulated by any professional body”. 21 January 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  18. Complaint policy. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Acknowledgement within 5 working days; full written response within 28 days; complaints within 6 months; SRA route for solicitor work; Family Mediation Standards Board for mediation; consumer law for unregulated services. January 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  19. Privacy policy. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Data controller Family Legal Ltd trading as Family Law Service; ICO ZC018853. 20 January 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  20. Family Law Service reviews. Trustpilot. Profile claimed January 2026; no reviews as at 5 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  21. About ConsentOrder.org.uk. ConsentOrder.org.uk (Family Legal Ltd). States “operated by Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127”. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  22. About us. C100Form.co.uk (Family Legal Ltd). States “operated by Family Legal Ltd”; C100 completion handled by Family Law Service. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  23. Premium consent order. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). £2,499 including VAT as at 6 September 2026; drafted by the named solicitors; includes a 90-minute facilitated meeting with a mediator, court submission and a redraft guarantee. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  24. Form C100 and Cafcass prep package. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). £350 including VAT as at 6 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  25. Family court fees (EX50). HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Fee 5.1, application by consent for a financial order, £62; Children Act 1989 section 8 application £270; divorce application (fee 1.2) £628. updated 13 July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  26. Consent order package. Mediate UK (Family Legal Ltd). £1,649 plus VAT per person (tier 1) and £1,799 plus VAT per person (tier 2); solicitor drafted; includes up to four hours of mediation. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  27. Solicitors Register: Rachel Elizabeth Adams, SRA number 452750. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Solicitor admitted 1 September 2010; practising certificate from 1 November 2025; DFA Law LLP. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  28. Solicitors Register: Emma Suzanne Kirkland, SRA number 415571. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Solicitor admitted 16 April 2012; practising certificate from 1 November 2025; DFA Law LLP. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  29. Legal Services Act 2007, section 14: offence to carry on a reserved legal activity if not entitled. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  30. Legal Services Act 2007, Schedule 2: the reserved legal activities. legislation.gov.uk. Paragraph 3 (right of audience) and paragraph 4 (conduct of litigation). Accessed 5 September 2026.
  31. Complaints we can help with. Legal Ombudsman. States “We can only help if your legal service provider is regulated”. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  32. Unregulated organisations: giving information to clients. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Guidance for solicitors working in unregulated organisations on telling clients which protections do not apply. updated 25 November 2019. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  33. About Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK. Mediate UK (Family Legal Ltd). States “Co-founder of Family Law Service”; Resolution Associate Member. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  34. Leadership. Family Legal Ltd. Names Amber Carter, Belinda Atkins, Jess Knauf and Danielle Day with titles. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  35. About Family Legal Ltd. Family Legal Ltd. States “Family Legal Ltd is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and does not claim to be”; VAT number GB 504 2090 38. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  36. Standards and governance. Family Legal Ltd. States “Family Legal Ltd is not itself a firm of solicitors” and that complaints are handled by the brand that provided the service. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  37. Brands. Family Legal Ltd. List of the company’s brands with the company’s description of each. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  38. Legal advice packages. Mediate UK (Family Legal Ltd). One hour legal £250 plus VAT; states the package “can be purchased online through our sister company, Family Law Service”. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  39. Costs. ConsentOrder.org.uk (Family Legal Ltd). £499 clean break consent order; £2,499 premium; court fee £62 stated separately. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  40. About this site. McKenzie Friend Services (Family Legal Ltd). States it is “run by the same small team that runs Family Law Service”; “a guide, not a service”. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  41. How much does a consent order cost?. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Company guide; states the £62 court fee and the company’s own prices. 16 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  42. LSB research on unregulated legal services reveals potential consumer benefits and detriments. Legal Services Board. Accessed 5 September 2026.

This article is part of Family Law Service Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd, the company that trades as Family Law Service. It is general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.