DRA Family Court: What Happens at a Dispute Resolution Appointment

Please note: this guide is general information for England & Wales, not legal advice. Every family's situation is different, for advice on yours, speak to a family solicitor or contact Citizens Advice.

A DRA, or Dispute Resolution Appointment, is the second main hearing in a child arrangements case that hasn't settled at the FHDRA. It's held once the court has the evidence it asked for, usually a CAFCASS Section 7 report, and its job is to give both parents one more serious chance to agree before the case moves to a final hearing.

A note on how this guide was put together: my own case didn't reach a DRA. We went from a first FHDRA to a second FHDRA to a Final Decision Hearing, so I haven't sat in a DRA myself. What follows is based on the Family Procedure Rules, CAFCASS guidance and family law sources, checked carefully rather than guessed at. If you want an account from someone who's actually been through a DRA, our FHDRA guide and final hearing guide are both written from my own experience either side of it.

What does DRA mean in family court?

DRA stands for Dispute Resolution Appointment. It's a hearing in private law children proceedings, held under the Child Arrangements Programme set out in Family Procedure Rules Practice Direction 12B. Despite the formal name, its purpose is the same as the FHDRA: to see whether the case can be resolved by agreement rather than by a judge deciding for you.

The difference is timing. A DRA only happens once your case has already been through an FHDRA without settling, and once the court has whatever evidence it ordered at that first hearing.

Where does the DRA sit in the process?

The usual sequence looks like this:

• FHDRA. The first hearing, where the court works out what's actually in dispute.
• Directions. If the case doesn't settle, the court orders whatever it needs to move things forward, most commonly a Section 7 report from CAFCASS, and sometimes witness statements or a fact-finding hearing if there are disputed allegations that need deciding first.
• DRA. Once that evidence is filed, the court lists a DRA to review it and push for agreement.
• Final hearing. If the DRA doesn't resolve things, the case goes to a final hearing, where a judge hears evidence and decides.

For the full map of every stage from application to final order, see our family court process hub.

What's different between a DRA and an FHDRA?

At the FHDRA, very little formal evidence exists yet beyond the CAFCASS safeguarding letter. Nobody has much to go on except what each parent says. By the time of a DRA, that's changed. The court usually has a Section 7 report in front of it, a document where a CAFCASS officer has spoken to both parents, likely spoken to the children depending on their age, and made a recommendation about what arrangements would serve the children's welfare.

That report changes the tone of the hearing. Instead of two competing accounts with nothing to weigh them against, the judge has an independent, evidenced view to work with, and will often be far more direct about which way the case is likely to go if it proceeds to a final hearing. That steer is the main engine of settlement at a DRA.

What happens on the day of a DRA?

The structure will feel familiar if you've already been through an FHDRA. Expect to arrive with time built in beforehand, often an hour or so, for you, the other parent and your solicitors (if you have them) to go through the Section 7 report and try to narrow down or resolve the remaining issues before the case is called into court.

Once you're in front of the judge, they'll have read the Section 7 report and any statements filed. They'll want to know what's now agreed, what's still contested, and why. Where the recommendations in the report are largely accepted by both parents, this can move quickly toward a consent order. Where one or both parents disagree with the report, expect the judge to explore why, and to give a clear indication of how the case looks from the bench.

What are the possible outcomes of a DRA?

• Full agreement. Both parents accept the recommended or negotiated arrangements, and the court can make a consent order there and then, ending the case.
• Partial agreement. Some issues are resolved, others aren't. The court may set interim arrangements and narrow directions further, sometimes with a short additional hearing before a final hearing is needed.
• No agreement. If the gap between the parents is still too wide, the court will list a final hearing, where a judge hears evidence and makes a binding decision.

How do I prepare for a DRA?

Read the Section 7 report properly before the hearing, more than once if you need to. Understand exactly what's been recommended and why, and be honest with yourself about which parts you agree with and which you don't.

If you disagree with something in the report, don't just reject it on the day. Talk it through with your solicitor beforehand, work out specifically what you think is wrong or missing, and whether that's something you can raise as a genuine factual dispute or whether it's more a difference of opinion the judge is unlikely to overturn. Courts give real weight to CAFCASS recommendations, so a vague objection rarely lands as well as a specific, evidenced one.

Bring an up-to-date, realistic proposal, adjusted in light of the report rather than the one you walked into the FHDRA with. And bring your records: a clear, dated account of how contact has actually been working since the last hearing carries real weight at this stage, because it's evidence the court hasn't already seen in the Section 7 report.

If you're navigating this without a solicitor, or aren't sure the one you have is the right fit, our guide on how to find the right family solicitor covers what to look for and how to book a first consultation.

How long does it take to get to a DRA?

The gap between the FHDRA and the DRA is usually driven by how long the ordered evidence takes to produce. A Section 7 report commonly takes somewhere in the region of 12 to 16 weeks from being ordered to being filed with the court, longer in complex cases, on top of whatever time the court needs to list the next hearing. In practice, a gap of several months between the FHDRA and the DRA is normal. If your timescale looks different from this, that's not necessarily a problem, court lists and case complexity vary a lot by area.

Key takeaways

• A DRA is the family court's second serious push for agreement, held once evidence like the Section 7 report is available.
• The Section 7 report is usually the biggest factor in how the hearing goes, read it carefully and prepare your response to it in detail.
• Outcomes are the same shape as the FHDRA: full agreement, partial agreement, or a final hearing listed.
• Expect several months between the FHDRA and the DRA, mostly down to how long the Section 7 report takes.
• For the full sequence of hearings from application to final order, see the family court process hub.