Get early access

For McKenzie Friends

Organised, dated records for the parent you support.

If you help a parent who’s representing themselves, ParentGlow gives them a dated record of their arrangements, and two ways to share it with you: their own exports, or read-only access once the register opens. Either way, you see only what they choose.

Register interest The confidentiality rules ↓
  • Free for McKenzie Friends
  • Identity checked
  • No listings or rankings

Two ways to share

The parent decides what you see, and how.

  1. Their own exports

    The parent can download court-ready documents from the app, such as a court pack of their messages or a complete record pack, and send them to you like any other document. Nobody else is notified.

  2. Read-only access, when the register opens

    The parent can invite you to read their record in our portal. McKenzie Friends aren’t regulated, so a person at ParentGlow checks who you are, and parents see “Identified: role not held on a public register”. The parent chooses what you can see. For now the app’s invitation screen is called “Add a solicitor”, and your entry sits under that heading until roles are added.

The rules you already work under

ParentGlow changes none of them.

  • You can give moral support, take notes, help with case papers and quietly give advice. You can’t act as the parent’s agent or sign documents for them, and you can only address the court with its permission (Practice Guidance: McKenzie Friends, 2010).
  • A parent can share information about their case with you to get advice or help with it (Family Procedure Rules, rule 12.75, and Practice Direction 12G). You mustn’t pass it on.
  • Nothing from proceedings about children can be made public. Posting court papers online can be contempt of court.

Preparing for court

A dated record helps with the chronology. The court decides the rest.

Since 2 March 2026, court bundles in family cases are tightly limited: an electronic bundle is capped at 350 pages, and messages, screenshots, photos and recordings usually stay out unless the court directs otherwise (Practice Direction 27A). A dated, organised record makes it easier to build a chronology and find the few things that matter. What goes into the bundle follows the court’s directions, and what weight anything carries is for the court.

The judiciary’s bundle guide →  ·  A sample ParentGlow court pack →  ·  The C100 form, explained for parents →

How access works

If the parent invites you into the portal.

  1. A parent invites you

    In the ParentGlow app, the parent adds you by name and work email, chooses what you’ll be able to read and for how long, and sends you the link themselves. We never contact professionals.

  2. You apply, and a person checks

    You open a free professional account and tell us your role, organisation and registration. Someone at ParentGlow checks it; we aim to decide within one working day, Monday to Friday. If a register lookup comes back empty, we ask you for more rather than refuse.

  3. The record opens, read-only

    Once you’re approved, the parent’s link opens their family’s record for exactly what they chose. It only works for an approved account using the email address the parent entered, and it lasts seven days; if it lapses, the parent can send a new one.

  4. Both parents can see you’re there

    You appear in the family’s list of who can see their record, with what we checked. The other parent is also sent a phone notification, though one that falls in their quiet hours may not arrive.

  5. It ends when the parent says so, or on the date

    Only the parent who invited you can end your access early; after that your next request is refused, though a download already started may finish. It also ends if that parent leaves the family, and otherwise on the date they chose: twelve months unless they picked another.

Inside the portal

What the parent chose to share, read-only.

The parent picks what you can see before they send the link. Calendar, shared expenses and their own court-ready exports are always included; documents and messages are included unless they switch them off; health documents only if they switch them on.

You’ll see, read-only

  • Calendar. Handovers, events and their times and places, as both homes see them.
  • Messages. Messages and handover notes, each with the time it was sent. Search and filter by date, author, child, category or attachments; attachments are listed, not opened.
  • Shared expenses. Each cost, its status and the running balance between the homes. You can’t add, agree or settle anything.
  • Documents. Shared documents, if the parent left them in. Health documents only if the parent chose to include them.
  • Court-ready exports. The exports the parent who invited you has made, reports on parenting time and schedule changes, and court packs for the calendar and messages.

You’ll never see

  • A parent’s private journal
  • Either parent’s account or security settings
  • Anything the other parent has exported for themselves
  • Anything at all before you’re approved

Worth knowing

  • Reading a message never marks it as seen for the parents.
  • You see messages and expenses from the date the parent who invited you joined ParentGlow.
  • Your own case details, such as your reference, the court case number, who you act for and the next hearing date, are visible only to you and never exported.

Honest limits

What ParentGlow isn’t.

  • We check who you are, not your qualifications or experience.
  • It isn’t legal advice, and it doesn’t make anyone a representative in the proceedings.
  • It shows what the parents kept, from the date the parent joined, and only what they chose to share. It may not be the whole story.
  • Where a court order limits contact between the parents, what the order allows comes first.

Questions McKenzie Friends ask

Straight answers.

Anything else? A real person answers at hello@parentglow.co.uk.

hello@parentglow.co.uk
Do McKenzie Friends pay to use ParentGlow?

No. A professional account is free, and so is anything a parent exports and sends you. We do not list or rank McKenzie Friends, and we do not pass anyone clients.

Can the parent share court papers with me?

A parent can share information about their case with you to get advice or help with it; the Family Procedure Rules (rule 12.75) and Practice Direction 12G allow that. You must not pass it on, and nothing from proceedings about children can be made public.

How do you check a McKenzie Friend?

McKenzie Friends are not regulated, so there is no public register to check. A person at ParentGlow checks who you are, and the organisation you work for if you have one. Parents see “Identified: role not held on a public register”. We check identity, not qualifications.

Can I apply with a Gmail or other free email address?

Yes. Applicants with free email addresses can be approved as Identified, which is the class every McKenzie Friend is approved in anyway.

Will the other parent know I can see the record?

Yes, if the parent invites you into the portal. You are listed for both parents, with what you can see and until when, and the other parent is sent a phone notification (one that falls in their quiet hours may not arrive). An export the parent sends you directly does not notify anyone.

Can ParentGlow prepare a court bundle?

No. It gives the parent dated, organised records to work from. Under Practice Direction 27A, from 2 March 2026, messages usually stay out of the bundle unless the court directs otherwise, and what goes in follows the court’s directions.

Is ParentGlow legal advice?

No. ParentGlow is a co-parenting app. It does not give legal advice, and using it does not make anyone a representative in the proceedings.

General information for England and Wales, checked against the app on 28 September 2026. It isn’t legal advice. See how professional access works for every role, and our parents’ guide to what records to keep.

For other professionals

The same rules, written for each role.

Family solicitors and barristers

Your client’s record, read-only and in order, instead of a folder of screenshots.

Read more

Family mediators

Something you can mention to both participants on the same terms, that helps agreements keep working.

Read more

Child contact centres

Calmer handovers before and after contact, without asking your centre to do anything new.

Read more

How access works

What we check, what parents see, and what’s built today, for every role.

Read more

The professional register opens soon

Hear first when it opens.

The professional portal is built. The register, which checks every professional before they can read anything, opens soon. There’s no date yet, and we won’t guess one.

What brings you here? (change it if this isn't you)

One email to confirm your address, then the odd update, including when the register opens and you can apply. Unsubscribe any time. Free for professionals. How we use your details.