Children and money

DA3 form: change or end a domestic abuse protection order

Form DA3 is the application to vary (change, including making it longer or shorter) or discharge (end early) a domestic abuse protection order (DAPO) made by the family court. 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 DA3 form with Wren

How Wren helps with the DA3

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 DA3 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 DA3. 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 DA3 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.

Official title: Apply to vary or discharge a domestic abuse protection order made in a family court: Form DA3
Edition: 11.24Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Which court: The court that last made the DAPOSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
When: Only while the DAPO is still in forceSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Police: The court asks the police whether they wish to be heard before decidingSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Fee: There are no court fees for applyingSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)

Who uses the DA3

The person protected by the order, the person the order is against, the person who applied for it on someone else's behalf, or a chief officer of police. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.

When it is used

While the DAPO is still in force. The application goes to the court that last made the order; if another court made it, you apply to that court.

Before you start

A copy of the most recent DAPO made by the family court.
What you want changed, or why you want the order ended, and what has happened since it was made.
Your contact details, unless they are kept confidential on Form C8.
Contact details, where known, for the person the order is against, the person protected and any mortgage lender or landlord.

How to fill in the DA3

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: your situation

Whether you want the court to deal with the application without notice to the respondent, and why.

Sections 2 and 3: about you

Your details and any legal representative's details.

Section 4: your application

Who you are, who originally applied, whether you want the order varied or discharged, its date and the changes you want.

Section 5: your reasons

Your reasons, what has happened since the last order, and whether a police officer wants to give evidence.

Sections 6 and 7

The people to be served, then interpreter, disability and special measures at court.

Statement of truth

You sign it on the printed form.

Prepare your DA3 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 started

Free 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 sends the application to the police, who say whether they wish to be heard. If the person protected asks to end the order or make it less onerous, the court hears from them first. The form says you must not serve the application yourself. 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

Applying to a court other than the one that last made the DAPO.
Applying after the order has ended.
Putting confidential contact details on the form instead of Form C8.

Common questions

Can the person the order is against use DA3?

Yes. Practice Direction 36ZG lists them among the people who can apply.

Can I make the order last longer?

Yes. The form treats making the order longer or shorter as a variation.

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.

Last checked against its sources on 7 October 2026. How we check our pages.