Do you provide legal advice?

No. CaseFile is a document preparation service. We assemble your bundle, build a sourced chronology, and surface material that may be relevant to the issues you identify — but you (or your adviser) decide what is relevant and how to use it. We do not advise on the law or the merits of your case, and you should always seek independent legal advice.

What if I'd rather prepare the bundle myself?

You can — and if your documents are already tidy PDFs, we genuinely recommend BunTool (buntool.co.uk). It's free, made by a solicitor, and merges and indexes them into a court-ready bundle. CaseFile is for when you'd rather it was done for you, and for the parts a merge tool can't do: taking any format (Word, photos, scans, messages), OCR, building a sourced chronology, and surfacing what in your evidence is relevant to your issues.

How quickly will I receive my bundle?

It depends on the tier you choose. Essential orders are delivered within 5 working days, Standard within 48 hours, and Priority within 24 hours. Turnaround begins once we receive your complete documents and intake form.

What file formats do you accept?

We accept PDF, Word (.docx), images (JPG, PNG), and scanned documents. If you have documents in other formats, upload them and we will do our best to work with them.

Which courts is this suitable for?

Our bundles follow standard bundle practice for civil and family courts in England & Wales, and the Isle of Man. If your court has specific formatting requirements, let us know in the intake form.

How is my data secured?

All documents are encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3). Files are stored in AWS S3 in the UK region. We delete your documents 90 days after bundle delivery unless you request earlier deletion.

What is your refund policy?

If we are unable to produce your bundle for any reason, you will receive a full refund. Once a bundle has been delivered, refunds are at our discretion — please contact us within 7 days of delivery if you are unhappy with the service. Consumers also have a 14-day cancellation right (see our Terms).

After we deliver your bundle, you may want changes — a different document order, a missing exhibit added, or a section reorganised. Standard includes one round of revisions, Priority includes unlimited revisions. Essential is a single delivery with no revisions included.

How to prepare a court bundle for a child arrangements hearing

If you have a child arrangements hearing coming up and you are representing yourself, preparing the court bundle can feel like the most intimidating part. This guide walks you through what the family court expects, in plain English.

What is the bundle for?

The bundle is the single, organised set of documents the judge reads before and during your hearing. In family proceedings it must be prepared in line with Practice Direction 27A. The applicant is usually responsible for preparing it, but both parties are expected to cooperate on what goes in.

Getting it right matters: judges form an early impression from the bundle, and a clear one helps them follow your case and find documents quickly.

What to include

For a child arrangements hearing, the bundle will typically contain:

The application — your C100 (and C1A if you have raised harm or risk), plus any other applications.
Existing orders — every order the court has already made, in date order.
Statements — your witness statement and the other parent's, and any from other witnesses.
Safeguarding material — the Cafcass safeguarding letter or section 7 report, if one has been prepared.
Key correspondence — letters or emails that are genuinely relevant to the issues, not your entire message history.
Supporting evidence — only documents that bear on the decisions the court has to make about the children.

Resist the urge to include everything. A focused bundle is far more persuasive than a thick one full of duplicates.

The preliminary documents

PD27A expects a set of short "preliminary documents" at the front of the bundle. For a child arrangements hearing these usually are:

A case summary — a brief, neutral background.
A statement of the issues the court has to decide (for example, where the children live and how time is shared).
A position statement setting out what you are asking for and why.
A chronology of key dates and events.
A short reading list with a time estimate.

Keep each of these concise — a page or two at most.

Formatting rules that catch people out

Put everything in one bundle, paginated continuously from page 1.
Include a full index at the front listing every document with its date and page number.
Use numbered, labelled section dividers.
Keep the bundle to no more than 350 pages unless the court has given permission for more.
Lodge it by 11am on the second working day before the hearing, and give a copy to the other party in good time.

A checklist to work from

We have put together a free court bundle checklist that follows PD27A section by section. You can work through it as you build your bundle, or have the printable version emailed to you.

If you would rather not do it yourself

Preparing a bundle to PD27A takes time and care, and many litigants in person would rather spend that time preparing what they will actually say. CaseFile prepares paginated, indexed, court-ready bundles from the documents you upload. You can start for free and only pay when you are ready to receive the finished bundle.

This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Always follow any directions made by your court and the version of Practice Direction 27A in force at the time of your hearing.