What is a Position Statement?
A position statement is a short piece of writing, usually one or two sides of A4 paper, that explains your position for a court hearing. For each court hearing you go to, you can write a position statement. Position statements can be a good way to make your case clear and concise to the judge and the other side, especially if you are nervous about speaking in court.

There shouldn’t be any proof in the position statement. When you make your application or later, if the court asks you to prepare one, your evidence will be put in a separate witness statement.

What to put in a Position Statement 

You should put a heading at the top of your position statement with important information about the case, such as the case number, the name of the court, your name and the other party’s name, and the date and time of the court hearing. Putting this information at the top of your position statement will make sure that the court staff and judge know which court room and case the statement is for. Check out the example at the end of this guide.
You might want to include these things in a position statement:

General

• Who each person is and what their relationship to the other people is. For example, “I am the mother of the Respondent. Joe Brown, who filled out the form, is my husband and the father of our child.
• If you are the person who wants to be heard and this is your first hearing, why did you want to be heard? Have you tried to work something out? Is the situation a big deal?
• Has there been violence at home? Are you able to talk to the other person in a safe way? Does your address stay secret?
• If you don’t have a lawyer, you may want to bring a friend, relative, or professional with you to court to help you. If you do this, you may need to fill out a form or give a short CV with information about the person you are bringing. • What has happened since the last hearing (for example, documents you have sent to the court, documents you have received from the other party, and any documents the other party was supposed to send you but didn’t).
• Give a short explanation if you haven’t done what the court told you to do (a direction is when the court asks you do something and they will be recorded on a court order).
• Any orders from the court that the other party did not follow.
• At the hearing, what do you want the judge to say? (For example, you might want to file a statement or tell an expert what to do).
• What do you want to happen?
• If your case involves your children:  How are you related to the children? What does the other person have to do with the kids?
• Does the other person still see the children? How are things with people? Give a short and clear summary of your worries.
• What do you want to happen? (for example, the child should live with you and see the other parent every other weekend, or for there to be no contact between the child and the other parent).
• Do any of your kids have special needs?
• Do you want to file more proof? If so, what kind of proof do you want to file? (Like a statement from you as a witness or a letter from the kids’ school.)
  If your case is about an order to stop domestic violence,
• Have you given the papers to the other side? Has he tried to get in touch with you or done anything else against the order?
• What kind of court orders do you need to keep you safe?
• At the hearing, what do you want the judge to say? (You might need permission to file police records or a letter from your doctor, for example.)
  If your case deals with money,
• How much money do you have right now?
• What do you want to happen?
• Do you have all of your financial papers in order? If you haven’t given all of your financial information, when will you get it?
• Has the other party told you everything he can about his finances? Which documents still need to be found?
• At the hearing, what do you want the judge to say? (For example, you might want an expert to tell you how much a property is worth, or you might want the other party to give you copies of their bank statements or company accounts.)

How do you tell the court and the other party what your position is?
If you write a position statement, you should send it to the court and the other side by 11 a.m. the day before the hearing, at the latest. On the website of most courts, you can find an email address for a family case. If you email your position statement, make sure to put your name and the case number in the subject line so it gets to the right judge. Make sure to bring extra copies to court for the judge, the other side, and the Cafcass/CAFCASS Cymru officer, just in case.

Sometimes the judge will tell you to write a position statement for a hearing. If this happens, you must send the statement to the judge, the other party, and the Cafcass officer by the date on the order.

See sample Position Statement from rightofwomen.org

Want to instruct me?

If you want to instruct me, please email donm@queensparksolicitors.co.uk or queensparksolicitors@gmail.com or call us on 0203 643 7508 / 07446 888 377. My name is Atty Magsino of Queen’s Park Solicitors. I am a UK qualified lawyer and solicitor.