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Free N434 Notice of Change Builder

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 21 October 2026

Fill in the official HMCTS notice of change of legal representative in minutes: the right box ticked, the words that do not apply struck through, and the service and address for documents checked against CPR Part 42. From DMD Costs, law costs draftsmen in Westhoughton, Bolton.

  • Free, with no sign-up
  • No paywall, no watermark
  • The official HMCTS form
  • Nothing leaves your browser

Fill in the boxes below; the checks and the form update as you type. Nothing leaves your browser.

The claim
The change
Whose legal representative is changing?
What is the change?
Address for documents
Service and signature
Who signs?

The form has no signature box to type into: sign it by hand or electronically once it is downloaded.

The builder applies CPR Part 42 and Practice Direction 42, as they stood on 21 October 2026, to the official form N434 (04.14). Check every box against your file before filing. It is a guide, not legal advice.

Key points

  • DMD Costs’ N434 builder is a free online tool that fills in the official HMCTS Form N434, the notice of change of legal representative, and downloads it as a PDF ready to sign, serve and file.
  • It is completely free, with no sign-up or paywall, and runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to DMD Costs.
  • A notice of change is needed when a party changes solicitor, when a party who was acting in person instructs one (unless only as an advocate for a hearing), and when a party who had a solicitor will act in person (CPR 42.2(1)).
  • It must be filed, and served on every other party and, where the party is changing solicitor or will act in person, on the former solicitor; the notice filed must say it has been served (CPR 42.2(2) and (4)).
  • Until it is filed and served, or the court makes an order that the solicitor has ceased to act and the order is served, the former solicitor is treated as still acting for the party (CPR 42.2(5); PD 42 para 3.3).
  • A solicitor with a MyHMCTS account who will conduct the claim through it should give notice of change in MyHMCTS instead of on Form N434 (PD 42 para 2.7A).

How to use the N434 builder

  1. Enter the claim. Enter the court, the claim number and the parties, with references.
  2. Choose the change. Say whose representation is changing and whether a new legal representative is now instructed (box B) or the party will act in person (box A).
  3. Name the representatives. Give the new legal representative and the former one, with its address, or say that the party was acting in person until now.
  4. Give the address for documents. Enter the address to which documents about the claim should now be sent, with any phone, DX, reference and email.
  5. Confirm service and sign. Tick box C once every other party, and the former legal representative where there was one, has been served. Choose who signs; the builder strikes through the words that do not apply.
  6. Download. Download the filled N434, check it, sign it and file it at the court office where the claim is proceeding.

When a notice of change is needed

CPR 42.2 applies when a party changes its solicitor, when a party who conducted the claim in person appoints a solicitor, and when a party who conducted it by a solicitor intends to act in person. A solicitor appointed only as an advocate for a hearing is not acting for the party for these purposes (CPR 42.2(1)(b) and PD 42 para 1.3). The notice is filed in the court office where the claim is proceeding (PD 42 para 2.5) and served on every other party and, unless the party was acting in person before, on the former solicitor (CPR 42.2(2)). Where the party’s address for service is its solicitor’s business address, that solicitor is treated as acting until Part 42 is complied with (CPR 42.1).

When a solicitor has stopped acting

If no notice is given, the solicitor can apply for an order that it has ceased to act (CPR 42.3), and any other party can apply where the solicitor has died, become bankrupt, ceased to practise or cannot be found (CPR 42.4). Both are applications under Part 23, supported by evidence; fill in the application with the free N244 builder and, if you serve the order yourself, the certificate of service with the N215 builder (PD 42 paras 3.2 to 4.3).

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up, no paywall and no limit. It fills in the official HMCTS form in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to DMD Costs.
When a party wants to change its solicitor, when a party who has conducted the claim in person appoints a solicitor (except one appointed only to act as an advocate for a hearing), and when a party who has conducted the claim by a solicitor intends to act in person (CPR 42.2(1)). Practice form N434 should be used, filed in the court office where the claim is proceeding (PD 42 para 2.5) and, if the claim is the subject of an appeal to the Court of Appeal, in the Civil Appeals Office too (PD 42 para 2.7).
Every other party and, where the party is changing solicitor or will now act in person, the former solicitor (CPR 42.2(2)(b)). The notice filed at court must state that it has been served as required (CPR 42.2(4)); that is box C on the form.
The former solicitor is considered to be the party’s solicitor unless and until the notice is filed and served, or the court makes an order that the solicitor has ceased to act and the order is served (CPR 42.2(5)).
Not if you will conduct the claim through MyHMCTS. A solicitor with a MyHMCTS account who will conduct the claim through it should file notice of change with the court using MyHMCTS, not practice form N434 (PD 42 para 2.7A), and a notice filed through MyHMCTS need not state the new address for service (CPR 42.2(3)).
The solicitor can apply for an order declaring that it has ceased to act (CPR 42.3), and another party can apply for one where the solicitor has died, become bankrupt, ceased to practise or cannot be found (CPR 42.4). Either application is made under Part 23, on Form N244, supported by evidence; where the order is served by someone other than the court, a certificate of service on Form N215 is filed (PD 42 paras 3.2, 3.3, 4.2 and 4.3).
No. Neither the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008 nor HMCTS’s fees list EX50 sets a fee for filing a notice of change. An application under CPR 42.3 or 42.4 for an order that a solicitor has ceased to act pays the general application fee.
Yes. Until a notice of change is filed and served, or an order that the solicitor has ceased to act is served, the former solicitor is treated as still acting (CPR 42.2(5)), and detailed assessment is part of the same proceedings. In HD v North Devon Healthcare Trust [2026] EWHC 2009 (SCCO), a firm that abandoned detailed assessments without coming off the record was ordered to pay costs. And where a party changed solicitors, its bill must be divided into parts for each firm’s work (PD 47 para 5.8(3)).
An address for service within the United Kingdom, given in the notice (PD 42 para 2.4). The notice must always state the party’s new address for service, unless it is filed through MyHMCTS (CPR 42.2(3)).

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