DA2 form: ask permission to apply for a DAPO for someone else
Form DA2 asks the family court for permission (leave) to apply for a domestic abuse protection order (DAPO) on behalf of the person to be protected. You send your completed Form DA1 with it. DAPOs are being piloted. GOV.UK says you can only apply in a family court if the person you need protection from lives in Greater Manchester, the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley or Sutton, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland or Stockton-on-Tees, or North Wales, and only at the family courts in Manchester, Stockport, Wigan, Croydon, Bromley, Teesside, Caernarfon, Prestatyn and Wrexham. Elsewhere, an FL401 non-molestation or occupation order is the route.
Fill in the DA2 form with Wren
How Wren helps with the DA2
Official forms are written for lawyers. With Wren you do not have to decode this one on your own, and you still follow the court’s procedure.
- Plain questions, one at a timeEach part of the DA2 becomes short questions in everyday words. Answer at your own pace and come back to it.
- Help beside each questionWhat the question is asking and what the official guidance says about it, in plain English.
- The official form, filled inYour answers go into the official DA2. You check it, sign it and send it yourself. Nothing goes to the court for you.
- What comes next, kept with your caseWhat usually happens after you send it, with the dates worked out from the published rules.
Time and money
- On your own
- A day or more
- With Wren
- About an hour for most forms
- Solicitor for this form
- £740 to £1,2403 to 5 hours
A solicitor’s time for the DA2 can run to £1,240. With Wren it is part of £19.99 a month, and it takes about an hour for most forms rather than a day or more.
Times and hours are Wren’s estimates for a typical case, not quotes. Solicitor costs are those hours at £247 an hour, the courts’ guideline rate for a solicitor with over four years’ experience, outside London (GOV.UK, Solicitors' guideline hourly rates (in effect from 1 January 2026)). The guideline runs from £200 to £295 an hour outside London depending on experience, firms set their own rates, and VAT is added on top.
Key facts
- Official title
- Ask for permission to apply for a domestic abuse protection order on behalf of someone else: Form DA2
- Edition
- 11.24Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- What to enclose
- A copy of your Form DA1 applicationSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Without notice
- The application for permission may be made without notice to the person the order would be againstSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Fee
- There are no court fees for DAPO applicationsSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Who uses the DA2
Anyone other than the person to be protected who wants to apply for them, such as a friend or relative, or an organisation like a domestic abuse support service, social services, a health professional or a local authority. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.
When it is used
Before or alongside an application on Form DA1 that you want to make for someone else.
Before you start
- Your name, and the organisation's name and your position in it if you are applying for one.
- The full name of the person to be protected.
- Your reasons, including your connection with them, what you know of their circumstances, and whether they know about and support the application.
- Your completed Form DA1.
How to fill in the DA2
Open each part for what it asks and how to answer it. In Wren, each part is a few plain questions, and your answers fill in the form.
Section 1: about you
Your name, and the organisation and your position if you are applying for one.
Section 2: the person to be protected
Their full name.
Section 3: your reasons
Your connection with them, what you know of their circumstances, whether they know about and support the application, and why notice has not been given if you are applying without notice.
Statement of truth
You sign it on the printed form.
Prepare your DA2 with Wren Family
Wren Family turns official forms into short, plain-English questions you can answer at your own pace. You check everything before you send it: nothing goes to the court for you.
Get startedFree for 14 days, no card. Then £19.99 a month, with your money back within 14 days if it’s not right.
What happens after you send it
Practice Direction 36ZG says the court must either grant permission or fix a hearing, and the court officer tells the people concerned. If permission is granted, the DA1 application goes ahead. You can prepare the form in Wren once it is available in the Forms list. Wren does not file, serve or send anything for you.
Common mistakes
- Sending the DA2 without the completed DA1.
- Not explaining whether the person to be protected knows about the application.
- Using DAPO forms outside the pilot areas.
Common questions
Does the person to be protected need a DA2?
No. They can apply on Form DA1 without permission.
Do I need to tell the respondent?
Practice Direction 36ZG says the application for permission may be made without notice to them, but you must explain why notice has not been given.
Where these facts come from
These are the official rules and pages this page is based on. They are listed so you can check a detail for yourself; you do not need them to use Wren. They are outside Wren and open in a new tab.