PD27A in 2026: A Practitioner’s Guide
At the end of 2025, a revised version of Practice Direction 27A (PD27A) was published, following a public consultation by the Family Procedure Rule Committee in late 2024. This will comes into force today (2 March 2026). The new PD27A governs the preparation and filing of bundles and is structured to cover provisions applying to all family proceedings, with additional sections addressing public proceedings and financial remedy proceedings.
The reforms respond to longstanding frustrations among practitioners regarding inconsistent and overburdensome bundle practice; difficulties that are often heightened for litigants in person and seek to address them through clearer drafting and firmer procedural expectations.
E-bundles and Paper Bundles
Responsibility for Preparing the Bundle
Pagination
Documents to be included
Translation in Bundles
Formatting Requirements
E-Bundles
Paper Bundles
Page Limits
Bundle Deadlines
The practical effect of the change in bundles is a material shift to earlier preparation and greater front-loading of work.
Lodging the Bundle
Authorities
Non Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR)
This is a significant change as a result of the courts continuing to face overwhelm.
Financial Remedy Proceedings
Governed by Chapter 6 PD27A.
Bundles for Subsequent Hearings
Preliminary Documents in Financial Remedy
In these matters, the practice direction now states the bundle must include the following forms as ‘preliminary documents’:
ES1,
ES2,
FM5,
Chronology – up to date,
Position statement(s),
Essential reading list, and
Time estimate (all at 6.6).
Responsibility for Preliminary Documents
All Other Family Proceedings
Chapter 7 governs all proceedings other than financial remedies. Paragraphs 7.4–7.7 apply specifically to public law proceedings.
Pagination
Bates pagination is particularly well suited to children’s proceedings, as it permits incremental updating without disturbing the original references.
Bundles for Subsequent Hearings
Penalties for Failing to Comply with the new Practice Direction
Practitioners must remain cognisant that failure to comply with this practice direction may result in the court not hearing the case, putting the case further back in the list, and may result in a wasted costs order (3.1).
The amendments to the practice direction ensure that there is consistency with bundles across family proceedings in both paper bundles and e-bundles. In an era of continuous digital development, the guidance addresses the regular inclusion of digital aspects to parties’ positions. Practitioners must ensure they are familiar with the new practice direction to ensure compliance with the new deadline outlines.
Law is correct as of 2nd March 2026. Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the law in this article is correct, it is intended to give a general overview of the law for educational purposes. Readers are respectfully reminded that it is not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. No liability is accepted for any error or omission contained herein.
