Uxbridge County Court: What to Expect at a Family Hearing

Part of: Family Court Guides: Find Your Court Before the Hearing

Uxbridge County Court is not in Uxbridge. Its full name is Uxbridge County Court and Family Court, and it stands at 501 Uxbridge Road in Hayes, UB4 8HL, about 5 km from Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court. Its family work is divorce and domestic abuse, listed alongside housing possession and money claims on the GOV.UK court finder. So this guide follows you from the bus stop to the hearing room, using details that apply to this building.

Everything here applies to England and Wales. Compare it with your own hearing letter before you set off, because court arrangements do change.

Reviewed by: Iblal Iqbal, Partner & Family Law Strategist, Kabir Family Law

Where is Uxbridge County Court, and how do you contact it?

Head for Hayes, not Uxbridge. Every detail in this card comes from the court’s own entry on the GOV.UK court finder.

HMCTS warns that fraudsters imitate its real numbers and email addresses to ask for money. If a call or email about your case demands payment and you are not sure, pay nothing and report it to Action Fraud.

Which family cases does Uxbridge County Court hear?

Two kinds: divorce and domestic abuse. The official listing also includes housing possession and money claims. However, it does not list children cases or financial remedy, which is the court process for dividing money and property after a divorce.

So if your letter is about child arrangements or a financial order, look again at the court it names. When we searched the court finder with this court’s postcode, it sent those cases elsewhere:

Your hearing letter always has the final say, and you can run the same search on GOV.UK Find a Court. If you applied for a child arrangements order on a C100 form, the £270 application, expect that letter to name a family court other than this one.

If your hearing here is about abuse, it is likely to concern a non-molestation order, which stops harassment or threats, or an occupation order, which decides who can live in the home. Applying for either costs nothing. Breaking a non-molestation order is a crime under section 42A of the Family Law Act 1996.

How do you get to the court in Hayes by bus or train?

The bus is simplest. TfL lists three stops called “Uxbridge County Court” on Uxbridge Road, and each one is within about 75 metres of the entrance:

• Stop E (about 74 metres): routes 90, 195, 278, 427, 696, 697, 698, H98, N207, SL8 and U7.
• Stop F (about 47 metres): routes 278, 427, 697, 698, H98, N207 and SL8.
• Stop FF (about 58 metres): routes 90, 195, 696 and U7.

Coming by train? The nearest station in TfL’s data is Hayes & Harlington, on the Elizabeth line and Great Western Railway, roughly 2 km south in a straight line. Routes 90, 195, 278 and H98 call at the station’s bus stops and at the court’s stops, so you can finish the trip by bus. Check TfL Journey Planner for live times on the morning of your hearing, since timetables change.

Is there parking at Uxbridge County Court?

Not for the public. The court offers disabled parking only if you arrange it with staff first, and its listing suggests parking may be available at The Beck Theatre instead. Allow time for the walk from there. Also, e-bikes and e-scooters are not allowed inside court buildings, and GOV.UK says courts have no storage for them.

What happens at a domestic abuse hearing at the county court?

Whether you asked for protection or the application names you, an abuse injunction hearing tends to run in this order. The steps draw on GOV.UK’s injunction hearing guidance and its guide to coming to court.

1. Check the address on your court papers. The notice with your hearing date sends you to the county court at 501 Uxbridge Road, not the magistrates’ court on Harefield Road.
2. Arrive half an hour before your listed time. Coming any earlier can mean being turned away at busy times. At the door, security checks bags and pockets much as an airport does.
3. Ask to wait apart if you feel unsafe. The court can seat you away from the other person. The building also has eight interview rooms, six on the ground floor and two on the first floor.
4. Go in when a member of staff calls you. The hearing is private, so the room usually holds only the two people in the case and any legal professionals. If a screen or other safety step you asked for is missing, tell staff straight away.
5. Hear the decision. GOV.UK says the hearing ends in one of three ways. The other person gives an undertaking, which is a promise to the court. Or the court asks for more information and may make a short-term interim order meanwhile. Otherwise, it makes an order.
6. Leave knowing how the order reaches the other person. An order has to be handed to the person it names. The court can arrange this at no cost, and GOV.UK warns against doing it yourself.

What if your hearing is about a divorce?

Divorce works differently. GOV.UK says a divorce normally takes at least 7 months, and you can usually avoid court hearings if you agree about children, money and property. If your divorce does reach a hearing, the letter gives the court and the time.

For the courtroom itself, our first family court hearing guide goes further. And if the other person will be in the building too, read attending court with a domestic abuse history before the day.

What support can you ask for at the county court?

Ask early, because several things at the county court on Uxbridge Road only work if staff know in advance. The court finder lists:

• hearing enhancement equipment, by prior arrangement with the court office
• disabled parking, also by prior arrangement
• level access to the entrance and the courtroom
• assistance dogs, plus Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyards on request
• baby changing in the ground-floor disabled toilets

In an abuse case, GOV.UK adds that you can ask for a video or phone hearing, or for an interpreter, when you apply. Other adjustments, such as breaks or a British Sign Language interpreter, are worth requesting before your date.

Arrange childcare for the whole day, since the building has none and staff cannot mind children while you are in the hearing room. Breastfeeding and expressing milk are allowed in every court building. Our closest office to this court is in Fulham.

What goes in your bag, and what stays at home?

Pack light, because your bag is checked at the door. Bring:

• your hearing letter with its case number, and any papers you need for the hearing
• something to take notes with, as notes are allowed but photos and videos are not
• food and drink, including water, since not every court building has refreshments
• a face covering or hand sanitiser, if you want them

Leave weapons and glass at home. Non-alcoholic drinks and hand sanitiser are the only liquids allowed in. There is no formal dress code, but clothes should suit a formal public building. Nothing may be worn on your head except a face covering or something worn for religious reasons, and phones must be silenced in the hearing room.

Due at Uxbridge County Court and Family Court? Check you are on track

Frequently asked questions

Expert Tip

The question we hear most about this court is which building to go to. The name says Uxbridge, yet the court sits on Uxbridge Road in Hayes, so a quick map search can send you to the wrong place. Type the address from your letter into your maps app instead. And if you are worried about seeing the other person, tell the court before the day, because staff have far more room to help when they know in advance.

Garry Steedman, Family Law Consultant (Divorce, Children & TOLATA)