You can apply yourself and represent yourself in court however if there are any parts of the application/court hearing that you do not understand please remember that the court can not give any advice and will always advise you to seek your own legal advice before putting in an application.
You may also wish to contact the Manx Citizens Advice Service on 01624 813466.
You may be entitled to legal aid. You should contact an advocate's office and they will advise if you are eligible for legal aid.
If you are receiving Isle of Man Income Support or Isle of Man Family Income Support, you can make an application for remission from fees. Please note that when applications for remission are considered, in addition to the requirements for financial means assessment, the wider circumstances of the proceedings may also be considered.
You should complete Form HCFR01 - Application for Remission of High Court Fees Due to Financial Hardship (Word doc) (PDF) and send it to the court, with your family application and a letter from the benefits department proving you are claiming benefits. This form will then be considered by the Court Office.
Please note you need to complete an remission of fees form every time you wish to put a family application form.
The following forms are for use in children's matters. For guidance as to the use of these forms please refer to Court Procedures - Children's Matters or the Guidance Leaflets (which are also available in paper copy at the Court Office/public counter):
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C2 - Application (application for leave to commence proceedings, for an order or directions in existing family proceedingss or to be joined as, or ceased to be, a party in existing family proceedings) Word / PDF
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FB2 - Notice of Application to vary a Financial Order Word / PDF
You can also collect the forms from the public counter at the Courts Office, or you can telephone the Courts Office on + 44 (0) 1624 685265 and ask for the forms to be sent to you.
You should contact the court before you put in your application and staff will advise how much you need to pay or you can refer to the fees page. You can pay by cash or card at the public counter or if you are submitting an application by post you can pay by cheque. All cheques must be made payable to the "Isle of Man Government".
You should read the forms very carefully and make sure all sections are completed fully.
If you have not provided all the required information the forms may be sent back to you to complete. If you have any additional information that you wish to add you can attach this to the back of your application form. You should tell us about any other people who live with the child, for example, new partners of a parent, aunts, uncles and grandparents. You should also tell the court if the child lives at more than one address. This will help give the court a complete picture of the child’s living arrangements.
You must send the forms back in triplicate to the court (either complete 3 or complete 1 and photocopy 2 sets). We also need to know if the child is the subject of a child protection plan or is known to Social Services. The court may decide to seek further information or advice from Social Services.
When your forms are received at the Courts Office, staff will check you have filled them in correctly and have included any relevant papers. Courts administration staff will notify you of the date and time when the court will first consider your case. This is known as a directions hearing. The date of the directions hearing will be fixed sufficiently in advance to give you enough time to serve the papers on the respondent(s) and give them time to reply; normally around 3-4 weeks. You should make a note of the child’s number or the case number which the Courts Office has put on the forms. You will need this number if you write to or telephone the Courts Office.
You will have to tell people that you have made an application, these people are the respondents and are the other people to be notified. These might include the child’s parents or someone who is looking after the child. You will have to provide respondents with a copy of your application form and they will be provided with an opportunity to submit their own form of response to your application.