Family court disclosure

Information held by the police for purposes of public and private law family proceedings can be requested from us. 

The Disclosure of Information between Family and Criminal Agencies and Jurisdictions: 2024 Protocol allows for police information to be disclosed for public and private family proceedings.

Make a request

If you are a local authority seeking to make an application for disclosure of police information in family proceedings, complete Annex 1 (PDF).

If you are legal counsel who wants to apply for a private law police disclosure order on behalf of a client, complete Annex 1 and Annex 5 (PDF) (Annex 5 must be approved by the court).

Should you want to represent yourself in court, you must:

1. use an Annex 5 as a template to apply to the court (see clause 1.9 of the 2024 Protocol)
2. send us a copy of the sealed or approved order from the court

Email all completed Annex 1 forms and approved or sealed court orders to familycourtdisclosure@avonandsomerset.police.uk

In response from us you will get:

• an acknowledgement of your request
• a unique police disclosure reference
• fee information, including how to pay

Fees

To appropriately recover the costs for disclosing information, we follow the NPCC’s guidelines on charging for police services.

Once we receive your request, including Annex 1 and/or Annex 5, we will give you a unique police reference number and information on how you can pay the required disclosure fee.

When we receive your completed request and payment, we aim to provide disclosure within 20 working days. However, there may be times when this takes longer.