Which Court Will Hear Your Case?
Scotland’s family cases — divorce, arrangements for children, financial provision, protective orders — are dealt with overwhelmingly in the sheriff courts, the local courts organised into six regional sheriffdoms. Which court hears your case is decided by geography, not choice: proceedings are normally raised in the court serving the area where the parties live, usually where the person the action is raised against is based.
Court reforms over the past decade consolidated Scotland’s court estate, so several towns’ historic courts — Cupar, Arbroath, Haddington, Kirkcudbright and others — no longer sit, with their business absorbed by neighbouring courts. The catchments below reflect the current, post-consolidation map, verified against Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service records.