Money and property

FE15 form: ask for money to be taken from the debtor's pay

Form FE15 asks the family court to make an attachment of earnings order. If one is made, the debtor's employer takes regular amounts from their pay and sends them on, towards money a family court order says they must pay.

Fill in the FE15 form with Wren

How Wren helps with the FE15

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 FE15 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 FE15. 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 FE15 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: Request for Attachment of Earnings Order (Family Court): Form FE15
Edition: 04.17 (4 pages).Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Fee: £39 for each debtor against whom the order is asked for (fees order 12.5). Help with fees may be available.Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Statement of the amount due: The application comes with a statement of the amount due under the order, showing how it is worked out, verified by a statement of truth, and a copy of the order (FPR 33.3(1) and 39.5).Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
The debtor's reply: The court serves the debtor with notice of the application and a reply form, FE17, to be returned within 8 days (FPR 39.6).Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Hearing: The court fixes a hearing, which is held in private (FPR 39.5 and 39.8).Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)

Who uses the FE15

A person owed money under a family court order, such as maintenance or a lump sum, where the person who owes it is employed. It is not suitable where the debtor is self-employed or has no earnings.

When it is used

After payments due under the order have not been made. The rules say the court can make an attachment of earnings order whether or not arrears have built up (FPR 39.1). Permission is needed to enforce arrears due more than 12 months before the application, and is asked for in the application (FPR 39.20).

Before you start

The order you want to enforce and its date, with a copy to send with the form.
A record of what has and has not been paid, so you can work out the amount due.
The debtor's full name, address and, if you know them, date of birth and National Insurance number.
The debtor's employer's name and address, and their works or pay number if known.

How to fill in the FE15

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.

Pages 1 and 2: the parties and the order

You give the court and case details, your details and the debtor's, and the order you are enforcing: when it was made, the amount, and how much is unpaid.

Page 3: the debtor's work

You give what you know of the debtor's employer and job. If you do not know where the debtor works, the form asks for what you do know.

Page 4: arrears and signing

You say whether any arrears are more than 12 months old, in which case you are asking permission to enforce them, and sign the statement of truth.

Prepare your FE15 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

The court sends the debtor notice of the application and form FE17 for their reply, and may ask their employer for a statement of earnings (FPR 39.7). At the hearing the court decides whether to make an order and how much is to be taken each pay day. Form FE16 asks the court to search for any attachment of earnings order already in force.

Common mistakes

Leaving out the statement of the amount due or not showing how it is worked out.
Not asking for permission when some of the arrears are more than 12 months old.
Using FE15 for a debtor who is self-employed, where another method of enforcement may fit better.
Not sending a copy of the order with the application.

Common questions

What if I do not know who the debtor works for?

Give what you know. The court can ask the debtor about their employment through the reply form FE17. Form D50K asks the court itself to choose a method and to require the debtor to attend court and give information.

Does the money come to me?

Under an attachment of earnings order the employer takes the amounts from the debtor's pay and sends them on as the order says. The court decides the amounts.

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.