Amendment to restrict unregulated experts in Family Law Children Proceedings

The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2026 amend the Family Procedure Rules 2010 to restrict unregulated experts from acting as expert witnesses in Family Law Children Proceedings. The amendments come into force on 20 July 2026. The Amendment:

• Amends rule 25.2 FPR to introduce definitions of “regulated expert” and “technical expert”, clarifying the categories of experts who may give evidence in certain children proceedings.

• Inserts new rule 25.5A FPR to require, in certain children proceedings, that expert evidence is provided by a regulated expert, subject to specified exceptions.

• Makes transitional provision so that the amendments relating to expert evidence do not apply to proceedings issued before those amendments come into force.

Once the amendment comes into force, the court will only be able to give permission, under section 13(1), (3) and (5) of The Children and Families Act 2014, for expert evidence from a "regulated expert", unless the expert evidence is from an international social worker, a "technical expert" or an expert instructed in proceedings under Schedule 1 of the The Children Act 1989. The court may, however, give permission to instruct any expert where there is no regulated expert available. 

"Regulated expert" means an expert who is:

(a) regulated by a UK statutory body;

(b) on a register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care; or

(c) regulated by an approved regulator under the Legal Services Act 2007.

“Technical expert” means an expert who provides evidence on:

(a) digital forensics;

(b) DNA testing;

(c) handwriting analysis; or

(d) toxicology testing.

The EWI welcomes these amendments which reinforce the importance of genuine experts to the effective and efficient adminstration of justice. 

Background

From March to June 2025, the Family Procedure Rule Committee held a consultation on new Family Procedure Rule 25.5A concerning the instruction of unregulated experts. The consultation also proposed amendments to FPR 25.2 and Practice Directions ('PDs') 25B and 25C. The aim of amendment was to require any expert instructed in family law children proceedings to be regulated. A key purpose of the changes is to ensure that any expert instructed in family law children proceedings has the appropriate skills and qualifications on which to base their expert evidence. 

The key change from the consultation drafting related to consideration of how forensic experts should be reflected in the changes. The Committee decided that, rather than attempting to make the rule apply to forensic experts, they would be exempted and a new definition of ‘technical expert’ be introduced to provide for this.

As part of its considerations, the Committee also rejected a proposal to extend the rule change to financial remedy proceedings.