How to Fill Out and File Form C7: Acknowledgement of Service

To fill out Form C7, enter your personal and contact details, say whether you oppose the application, flag any concerns about harm to the children, note any interpreter or disability needs, sign the Statement of Truth, and return the form to the court named on your papers within 14 days of being served.¹ Form C7 is the acknowledgment of service you file after being named as a respondent in a Children Act 1989 application in the family court in England and Wales. There is no court fee.

Where to Get the Form and When It’s Due

A blank Form C7 is normally included in the application pack served on you alongside the applicant’s Form C100 (or C1, C78, or C79).² If your copy is missing, download a fresh one from the GOV.UK portal.³ The PDF can be filled in on screen or printed and completed by hand in black ink.

You have 14 days from the date you receive the application papers to complete and file the form.¹

What to Have in Front of You

Gather these before you start:

The application papers served on you — they contain the case number, the applicant’s name, and the address of the court office handling the case.
The children’s full names as listed on the application, where they currently live, and who looks after them day to day.
Your solicitor’s firm name, address, phone number, reference, DX number, and email, if you have one.
Any Form C1A the applicant sent with the papers. Read it carefully. You will be asked whether you want to respond to what it says.

Working Through the Form

Section 1: About You

Enter your full name, date of birth, address, postcode, phone number, and email.² If you have safety concerns and do not want the applicant to see your address, leave it off the C7 and complete a Form C8 instead. The C8 keeps your contact details confidential — only the court and Cafcass see them.⁴

Section 2: Your Solicitor

If you have instructed a solicitor, give the firm’s name, address, phone number, reference, email, and DX number. Leave this blank if you are acting as a litigant in person. You can instruct a solicitor later; nothing you write here locks you in.

Section 3: Address for Correspondence

This is where the court will send letters, hearing notices, and orders. It defaults to the address in Section 1, but you can give a different one, such as your solicitor’s office. Use Form C8 if this address also needs to stay private.

Questions 4 to 10

These are the questions the court actually needs you to answer:²

Question 4 asks the date you received the application. Write the date you were personally served, or the postmark on the envelope if the papers came by post. Your 14-day deadline runs from this date.
Question 5 asks whether you oppose the application. Answer yes or no. A “yes” does not require a detailed explanation here. You will set out your position in later statements and at the hearing.
Question 6 asks whether the applicant included a Form C1A and, if so, whether you want to respond to the allegations in it. If you do, complete your own Form C1A and send it with the C7.
Question 7 asks whether you believe the children have suffered or are at risk of harm. This covers domestic abuse, violence in the household, child abduction, and other harmful behaviour by anyone involved in the children’s care or contact. If you answer yes, you must also complete a Form C1A.⁵
Question 8 asks whether you intend to apply for an order yourself, for example a child arrangements order in your favour.
Question 9 asks whether you need an interpreter. If yes, state the language.
Question 10 asks whether you have a disability requiring special assistance at court. Describe what you need. The form warns that leaving accessibility requirements out could cause a hearing to be adjourned.

When You Also Need a C1A, C8, or Statement of Means

A Form C1A goes in with your C7 in two situations: when you want to answer allegations the applicant made in their own C1A, or when you are raising concerns about harm to the children.² The C1A covers physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, and financial abuse, and “harm” includes damage to a child’s health and development from witnessing the mistreatment of another person.⁵ Be specific. “The other parent is abusive” carries less weight than concrete incidents with approximate dates and any supporting evidence, such as police reports or social services records.

A Form C8 goes in whenever you want your address or other contact details kept from the applicant.⁴

A Statement of Means goes in if the applicant is asking the court to order you to make a financial payment for a child.² It sets out your income, expenses, and financial circumstances. A blank copy should be in the pack served on you. If not, ask the court office for one.

Signing the Statement of Truth

The last section of the C7 is the Statement of Truth. Signing it confirms the facts in the form are true to the best of your knowledge. The wording warns that contempt of court proceedings can be brought against anyone who makes a false statement in a document verified by a Statement of Truth without an honest belief in its truth.⁶ Contempt can be punished with a fine or imprisonment, so check every answer. Sign and date the form, or have your solicitor sign it if they are filing on your behalf. Electronic signatures are accepted.³

Filing the Form and Serving Copies

Return the completed Form C7 to the court office named on your application papers within 14 days of the date you were served.¹ You can post it or hand-deliver it.

Before sending the original to the court, make copies. You need one for the applicant and one for every other party named on the application. Post or hand each party a copy.² Keep proof of service — a certificate of posting from the Post Office or a dated note of hand delivery — in case anyone later says they never received your response.

If you are also filing a Form C1A, a Form C8, or a Statement of Means, send them all together with the C7.

If You Miss the 14-Day Deadline

Late filing does not end the case or bar you from taking part. The court proceeds, and you can still attend hearings. The practical cost is that the first hearing may be listed before you have filed, which means the judge and the Cafcass officer have only the applicant’s account when making early decisions about interim contact or safeguarding. File as soon as you can, even if the 14 days has passed.

What Happens Next

Once the court has your acknowledgment, Cafcass (or Cafcass Cymru in Wales) carries out safeguarding checks with the police and the local authority to look for existing concerns about the children.⁷ A Cafcass officer will usually phone you and the other parent separately to discuss any safety concerns. The call can come close to the hearing date, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from them straight away.

The court then schedules a First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment (FHDRA), where you, the applicant, a judge, and a Cafcass officer meet. The judge will try to help you reach agreement on child arrangements; if that works, a final order can be made at the hearing. If not, the judge sets directions for how the case will move forward.

1
Justice UK. Part 12 – Proceedings Relating to Children Except Parental Order Proceedings and Proceedings for Applications in Adoption, Placement and Related Proceedings
2
GOV.UK. Form C7 Acknowledgement
3
GOV.UK. Respond to a Court Application About a Child: Form C7
4
GOV.UK. Apply to Keep Your Contact Details Confidential: Form C8
5
GOV.UK. C1A Allegations of Harm and Domestic Violence
6
Justice UK. Practice Direction 17A – Statements of Truth
7
Cafcass. Overview of Our Involvement With You as You Go Through the Court Process