A McKenzie Friend costs a fraction of a solicitor and does a fraction of the job - the question is whether that fraction is the part your case needs. The 2010 practice guidance defines the role narrowly: they sit beside you, take notes, help with papers, and advise quietly, but they cannot address the court, examine witnesses, or run your case - and you cannot recover their fees whichever way the case ends. This page sets out what the guidance allows, what friends cost, and when the money is better spent elsewhere.
What a McKenzie Friend actually does
The 2010 practice guidance allows reasonable assistance: sitting beside you in the hearing, helping with case papers, taking notes, quietly advising on the conduct of the case, and carrying out clerical work like preparing bundles or delivering documents. What it forbids is the courtroom floor: a McKenzie Friend cannot act as your agent, sign court documents, manage the case outside court, address the court, examine witnesses, or make oral submissions, unless the court exceptionally grants a right of audience - a grant reserved for special circumstances and rarely extended to those who act for reward on a regular basis.
The value case: preparation, not performance
Preparation is where fee-charging friends usually earn their money: building a chronology, organising the bundle, drafting position statements that answer the other side's best point, and rehearsing the hearing with you. That work is worth doing whether or not you pay: a clean bundle and a short, child-focused proposal read better than grievances. A good friend also knows when to say the case should settle; the worst outcome of bought confidence is a contested hearing the evidence never supported. Ask a prospective friend exactly what they will produce in writing and by when.
The risks: unregulated, uninsured, occasionally disastrous
The role is unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a McKenzie Friend; there is no insurance, no complaint body, and no qualification check. Friends who overreach into advocacy can damage your standing with the judge; fees for unauthorised conduct of litigation cannot lawfully be recovered from anyone. Fee-charging friends commonly charge in the tens of pounds per hour or a few hundred per hearing day; volunteer schemes through charities provide similar help free if you qualify. Always ask who you will actually get on the day, since some services swap in whoever is available.
When the answer is no
A McKenzie Friend is not the answer if the case involves serious allegations needing cross-examination - a fact-finding on abuse claims is barrister territory; if you qualify for legal aid (domestic abuse evidence, child protection), use it; if the dispute is narrow and the other side agrees, mediation with the £500 government voucher resolves most arrangement questions cheaper than any court support; or if your real need is paperwork help, charities and volunteer schemes provide it free. For one straightforward hearing, prepared self-representation is genuinely viable: the FHDRA is designed for unrepresented parents.
Questions this page answers
Can a McKenzie Friend speak in court?
No - and this is the single most misunderstood point about the role. A McKenzie Friend has no right of audience: they cannot address the judge, make submissions, cross-examine witnesses, or open and close your case. Everything said in court must come from you. What they can lawfully do sits in the 2010 practice guidance: sit beside you, take a full note of the hearing, help with case papers, and quietly pass advice - in writing or in a whisper - which you then choose whether to use. A judge can permit more in rare circumstances, but as a planning assumption expect your MF to be silent and your voice to be the only one the judge hears from your side. Two related rules: the court can refuse a particular MF altogether if their presence would undermine the interests of justice, and everything an MF does happens under your name and responsibility.
What can a McKenzie Friend not do?
The prohibitions are structural, not discretionary. A McKenzie Friend cannot: address the court or examine witnesses (no right of audience); act as your agent or conduct your litigation (no case management - they cannot sign, file or serve documents as your representative, or instruct a barrister on your behalf); claim their costs from the losing side, because in family cases there is no costs order in your favour to pay them from; hold themselves out as a solicitor or barrister,; or provide services that amount to legal representation. They also cannot promise outcomes, and reputable ones will not. Around the edges, judges have discretion: the court can refuse your chosen MF entirely, restrict what they do at a particular hearing, or - where an MF has effectively been running a case - require them to stop. Since MFs are unregulated, none of these limits are enforced by a professional body before the damage is done; the court polices them only when a problem reaches it. That is why vetting references matters more than comparing hourly rates.
How much does a McKenzie Friend charge?
Typical rates run £35-£60 per hour for preparation work and £150-£400 per court day for attendance, with London and specialist MFs at the top of both ranges; volunteers through charitable schemes cost nothing. A realistic total for a children case that needs statement help plus two or three hearings is £1,000-£2,500 - against £5,000-£15,000 for an equivalent solicitor-run case. Some MFs charge flat per-hearing fees and some bundle preparation into a package, so ask for a written fee schedule before engaging. Three cost caveats: you cannot recover MF fees from the other side even if you win, because they are not recoverable costs; a judge can scrutinise and criticise fee levels where they appear exploitative; and the unregulated market includes MFs whose fees are wildly disproportionate to value - the judiciary has publicly warned about charges running into five figures. Compare references from real, similar cases before committing to anyone's rate.