What is the family law intake form template?
People contacting a family lawyer are often going through one of the hardest times of their lives, and some are not safe at home. This template puts that first: an emergency note at the top, a question on how to contact them safely, and a question about safety concerns before anything else.
It then covers what a family lawyer needs for a first consultation. The client chooses what they need help with — divorce, separation, child arrangements, support, dividing finances, agreements, protection from abuse or relocation — and gives their spouse or partner's name for the conflict check. Relationship dates, separation, any court proceedings and upcoming hearings follow, then the children and the home and finances.
The client finishes with what they'd like to achieve and how soon they need advice. Every enquiry is saved as a PDF in your FileIt vault, along with any court papers or letters uploaded.
- Best for
- Family law firms, mediators and legal advice centres
- Filled in by
- The prospective client
- Time to complete
- About 15 minutes
- Includes
- Safety and safe-contact questions, relationship and proceedings, children, home and finances, goals and document upload
Who uses a family law intake form?
- An enquiry form on a family law firm's website
- Mediation services gathering background before an intake meeting
- Advice centres triaging enquiries by urgency
- Firms offering fixed-fee first consultations
- Clients returning after a gap who need to update the firm
- Domestic abuse support services referring clients to a partner firm
Questions on this family law intake form
35 questions over 5 pages · includes file upload, conditional questions, multiple pages, consent checkbox.
1 You & your safety
- Your full name*
- Email*
- Phone*
- How can we safely contact you?* Any method is fine · Email only · Phone only — please don't leave messages · Other — I'll explain below
- Safe contact instructions asked only when it applies
- Do you have any concerns about your own or your children's safety?*
- Please tell us about your concerns asked only when it applies
- Is there a protective, restraining or non-molestation order in place, or has one been applied for?
2 Your relationship
- What do you need help with?* Divorce or dissolution · Separation · Arrangements for children / custody · Child support · Spousal support / maintenance · Dividing property and finances · Prenuptial or postnuptial agreement · Protection from abuse · Moving away with children
- Your spouse or partner's full name*
- Your relationship* Married · Civil partnership · Living together, not married · In a relationship, never lived together
- Date of marriage asked only when it applies
- Date of civil partnership asked only when it applies
- When did you start living together? asked only when it applies
- Have you separated?*
- Date of separation asked only when it applies
- Have any court proceedings started, in any country?*
- Which court, what stage, and any upcoming hearing dates* asked only when it applies
- Does your spouse or partner have a lawyer? If so, who?
3 Children
- Do you have children together, or children living with you?*
- Children's first names and ages* asked only when it applies
- Who do the children mainly live with now? asked only when it applies Me · My spouse or partner · Shared roughly equally · Someone else
- Have you agreed arrangements for the children? asked only when it applies Yes, broadly agreed · Partly · No
- Anything else about the children asked only when it applies
4 Home & finances
- Your family home Owned jointly · Owned in my name · Owned in their name · Rented · Other
- Estimated home value asked only when it applies
- Mortgage outstanding asked only when it applies
- Your annual income
- Their annual income (estimate)
- Other significant assets
- Significant debts
5 Your goals
- What would you like to achieve?*
- How soon do you need advice?* Urgently — within days · Within the next few weeks · I'm planning ahead
- Documents (optional)
- Consent*
The family law intake form, page by page
1 You & your safety
A note to call emergency services if in immediate danger, then name, email and phone. The client chooses how they can safely be contacted — with a box to explain other arrangements — and says whether they have safety concerns (with an optional box to describe them) and whether a protective order is in place or applied for.
2 Your relationship
A checklist of what they need help with, their spouse or partner's name, the type of relationship, the date of the marriage or civil partnership where there is one, when they began living together (unless they never have), separation and its date, whether any court proceedings have started (a yes requires the court, stage and hearing dates), and whether the other side has a lawyer.
3 Children
If there are children, their first names and ages, who they mainly live with, whether arrangements are agreed, and anything else relevant such as schooling or special needs.
4 Home & finances
How the family home is held, with its value and mortgage unless rented, both incomes, other significant assets and debts.
5 Your goals
What the client wants to achieve, how soon they need advice, an optional document upload, and a consent confirming that the form doesn't create a lawyer-client relationship and agreeing to contact in the way they chose.
Make the template yours
- Change the emergency note to name your local emergency number and support helplines
- Rename order types and relationship options to local legal terms
- Add a page about pensions if they're central to your financial work
- Send enquiries to a private folder only family team members can see
- Add notification emails for the intake lawyer
- Remove the finances page for a children-only service
Tips for a better family law intake form
- Always honour the safe-contact answer, even when it's less convenient
- Treat any enquiry with safety concerns or an imminent hearing as urgent
- Run the conflict check on the spouse or partner's name before calling back
- Don't ask for full financial disclosure at this stage — rough figures are enough to plan the first meeting
Every response becomes a PDF in your vault
The enquiry is filed as a PDF in the vault folder you choose, with any uploaded documents, and you're notified by email. The emailed copy to the client is off by default — an emailed PDF could be seen by someone else if the client's email isn't private.
Firms typically run a conflict check, review urgency, and contact the client using the method they chose. The Responses table lets the family team track enquiries and export to CSV.
- Start from this template. It opens in the FileIt Forms designer — change any question, add pages, set the rules for when questions appear.
- Share it. Turn on a public link, or send it to people by email, each with their own link. They don’t need a FileIt account.
- Get the answers as PDFs. Each response is saved as a PDF in the vault folder you choose, with uploaded files attached — and listed in a Responses table you can export to CSV.
Family law intake form: frequently asked questions
Is this family law intake template free?
Yes. It's included with FileIt's Forms app on every plan, including free.
Why does the form ask about safety first?
Some people seeking family law help are at risk. Asking early lets the firm prioritise urgent cases and contact clients safely.
Should I send clients an emailed copy?
It's off by default, because a shared or monitored inbox could put a client at risk. You can turn the respondent copy on in the form's settings if that suits your clients.
Does submitting create a client relationship?
No. The consent states that the firm must confirm in writing before it acts.
Can it be used for mediation?
Yes. Rename labels and adjust the consent to suit a mediation service.
Do clients need an account?
No, anyone with the link can fill it in.