Steven Wade is a family law advisor (McKenzie Friend) with nearly 20 years of experience helping people represent themselves in court. Having been through the system personally and supported thousands of others since, he knows what it’s like to face the stress, confusion, and pressure of doing it alone. This blog shares practical insights that empower you to take control of your case — without the legal jargon or the hefty solicitor’s bill.
How do I get a transcript of my hearing?
Family Law Assistance
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How do I get a transcript of my hearing?
- Introduction
- The basics
- When do you need a transcript?
- How do I get a transcript?
- What happens after you’ve sent the forms off?
- What happens next?
- Conclusion
Introduction
A court transcript is a text document of what was said in a hearing concerning divorce or separation.
Although every hearing is recorded – there are microphones around the court room that pick up what is said so things can be referred back to later, if needed. That said, it isn’t unknown for a recorded to not be available if there was a problem with a recording.
It can be useful to do this. This blog talks about how it happens, when you may need to get a copy of the transcript and how to do that.
NB – if you’re looking for info on how your recordings can be used in court you probably need to read this!
The basics
Every hearing should be recorded. There are microphones for everyone who is in attendance so they can be heard clearly and recorded. The same is true for virtual hearings, obviously.
It’s one of the reasons you should keep your voice down if you are consulting with your McKenzie Friend or solicitor – some things need to be off record and you don’t want what you’re saying quite possibly ending up in a text document or listened to by someone you’d rather didn’t hear/read it.
This is true of all hearings in the family court – i.e. children and finance (divorce almost never has hearings these days).
Note that you
When do you need a transcript?
Most of the time, you don’t.
But there are situations when they can come in very useful. Good examples include:
- You think you have missed something absolutely key.
- You want to make an appeal and you need the exact words that were used on the day.
- Something major has happened and you want to rely on it in a future hearing.
In many cases you do not need a recording however. Because you – or whoever with you should be making notes about what has happened, what has been said and other info to enable you to read back and remember things after you have left the hearing itself. It’s one of the reasons we’re keen to advise you don’t go on your own – because no matter how talented you are you aren’t going to be able to speak, think and take notes at the same time, particularly if you are emotional about what is being discussed.
It’s possible to do all 3 of the above with good notes and without a transcript; but without good notes you may have no option but to seek a transcript. And one of the things whoever is taking notes for you should be doing is recording details like the court room you’re in, the judge (or magistrates) you’re before and noting down times things have been said at every few minutes.
This last point can come in very useful and save you money (read on for details!)
How do I get a transcript?
OK – so here’s how it works.
You need someone to listen to the audio recordings and turn them into a text document. The courts won’t just let anyone have a copy of them. There are companies that are authorised to do so and you need to use one of those.
To find the details of the companies that are on that list you need an EX107GN form. This is a guidance form. It gives you full information on the process, what to do, who to contact and more.
The actual form to request is is an EX107.
You complete this form, send it off and wait. There are different prices depending on what you want, how quickly you want it and other details. The bottom line is the more quickly you want it and/or the longer the transcript you want – the more it will cost.
One of the pieces of information you’ll need to provide is what part of the hearing you want transcribed. If you tell a transcription company that you need the whole 3-day hearing listened to and transcribed it’s going to cost a lot more than if you are able to give them a 30 minute window because you have a record in your notes (hence why your note taker should be writing times down).
If you do not have the money to pay for a transcript you may be eligible to get it free – in this case you need an EX105 form too.
What happens after you’ve sent the forms off?
The bottom line is – you wait. The Court will send the recordings off to the transcription service. There is a lot of variability across different courts. It’s possible that some of them are still using tape recordings that means physical cassettes will be sent off. It’s possible in others that digital recordings are made that are email across. From your point of view it won’t change much.
In any case – once recordings are made, the transcript is sent to the Court for `perfection’. Perfection means the judge/magistrates reads the transcript and agrees they are happy with it to be sent to whoever has ordered it.
Once this is the case you’ll be sent the transcript.
Back to the top
What happens next?
Once you have the transcript you’re free to use it in your documents. You can quote from it, ask questions off the basis of it and use it as evidence.
It’s quite possibly overkill to use a transcript for many hearings (although in theory you can do so in any hearing). Notes are usually enough; if the other party disputes what you’re recorded and referred to in a court document a transcript may help you if the point you’re trying to establish is significant is.
Conclusion
It’s quite possible you’ll never need a transcript. And a good way of making sure that happens is to ensure that one way or another you have decent notes that record what is going on in your hearing. All going well you won’t really need notes, never mind a transcript. Transcripts can be expensive and it’s possible that, having spent money on getting them, they’ll have less impact on the outcome of your case than you would hope.
But this is the process. If it turns out you need to use this knowledge…you’re really going to need this while navigating your divorce.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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About the author…
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