The Family Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order 2009

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Family Proceedings Fees Order 2008 (S.I.2008/1054 (L.6)). In this explanatory note “old fee number” and “old fee” refer to the relevant fee numbers and fees in the Family Proceedings Fees Order 2008. “New fee number” and “new fee” refer to the relevant fee numbers and fees as amended by this Order. This Order makes the following changes of substance.

(a) It increases some of the fees in Schedule 1 to the 2008 Order. Except as shown below, the fee increases are indicated in the body of the Order.

(b) Article 5 inserts a new sub-paragraph into fee 2.1 to take account of amendments to the Children Act 1989 by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (c.22). The insertion made by Article 5 will come into force on 1^st September 2009.

(c) Article 15 amends fee 11.1. The fee payable for the issue of a warrant of execution against goods no longer depends on the amount for which the warrant is issued. The previous fees are replaced by a single fee of £100.

(d) Articles 16 and 17 remove the separate enforcement fees for the county court and the High Court, which are replaced, in article 18, by a common fee for both jurisdictions.

(e) The table below shows the fee increases.

Old fee number	Old Fee	New fee number	New fee
11.3	£45	9A.1	£50
13.2	£40	9A.1	£50
11.4(a)	£55	9A.2(a)	£100
11.4(b)	£55	9A.2(b)	£100
13.3(a)	£50	9A.2(a)	£100
13.3(b)	£50	9A.2(b)	£100
11.5	£95	9A.3	£100
13.4	£90	9A.3	£100

(f) Articles 23 to 25 increase the figures for gross annual income in paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 which are used to determine whether a party is eligible for fee remission.

(g) Article 26 increases the amounts that may be deducted from a party’s gross monthly income for living expenses. The amount that a party may deduct rises from £296 to £315. The amount for each child of the party rises from £228 to £244 and the amount that may be deducted if the party has a partner rises from £150 to £159.

A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/civil-court-fees-2008-consultation-paper-cp31-08.pdf