An injunction is intended to protect you by restricting someone from taking a certain action. In family law, there are two main types of injunctions available, namely:
- A non-molestation order; and
- An occupation order
These are to protect you from harm and to give you certain rights within your home.
If the court grants you an injunction, it is important to have this served as soon as possible. Service involves officially notifying the person who is the subject of the injunction that it has been issued so that they understand the behaviour that is not permitted.
Non-Molestation Orders
To be able to request a non-molestation order, you need to have a certain type of relationship with the other party. This includes:
- Marriage or a civil partnership or you are divorced or have had your civil partnership dissolved
- You are engaged or were engaged
- You are living together or were living together
- You were in a significant relationship
- You are related
- You are both responsible for a child
If you do not have this type of relationship with the person in question, there may be another type of injunction available, for example, to prevent them from harassing you.
A non-molestation order is intended to protect someone who has suffered physical violence or threats of physical violence or to stop someone from harassing, pestering or intimidating you or your children.
This type of injunction can prevent your abuser from coming to your home or place of work or from coming within a certain distance of you.
Once you have a non-molestation order, the police will be able to arrest you if it is breached.
It will usually be granted for six to twelve months. If you near the end of an injunction and you believe that it is still necessary, you can request an extension. If the injunction has ended, you can request a new injunction.
Occupation Orders
If you have been the victim of domestic abuse, you may be able to request an occupation order setting out who can access your home. You will need to satisfy one of the following points:
- Your home is owned or rented by you and shared with your spouse, civil partner, cohabiting partner, fiancé, family member or your child’s other parent
- You do not own or rent the home you live in, but you are married or in a civil partnership or cohabiting with the owner or they are your former partner
An occupation order can set out who has the right to occupy the property and/or which areas of the home each party has the right to enter. This means that an abusive partner can be excluded from some or all of the property, including the area around the property.
The court can also include provisions in respect of payments for the mortgage or rent and liability for repairs and property maintenance.
Obtaining an Injunction
Your solicitor can put together an application to the court on your behalf, setting out why an injunction is necessary. This will include a statement giving details of the behaviour that means you need an injunction.
If you urgently need protection, your solicitor can request an emergency injunction.
If you will be dealing with the application yourself, you can either apply online or by email, post or in person.
Applying Online
RCJ Citizens Advice’s Court nav system can be used to apply online. It has a quick close feature that will allow you to close it instantly, should you need to. You should note that it will still be visible in your browsing history, however.
You will need to fill in details of what has happened and provide the name and address of your abuser. If you wish, you can ask us to review the form for you. Alternatively, you can ask RCJ Citizens Advice to check the form for free. You will be notified if you need to make a court application and how this is done.
If you need a hearing by video or phone call for protection reasons or because it would be difficult to attend court, you can request this and explain your reasons.
Applying by Post, Email or in Person
If you wish to apply by post, email or in person, you will need to complete form FL401, available on the government’s website. If you do not want your address and telephone number to be revealed, you can also fill in form C8.
You will need to include a statement setting out what has happened. You should then email or send the forms to a family court. If you are sending them in the post or dropping them off in person, you should include a copy.
At Witans Solicitors, we can make an application for an injunction on your behalf if required. For more information in respect of our services, see Getting an Injunction.
How to Get an Injunction Served
Once an injunction has been granted by the court, it needs to be formally served on the other party. Your solicitor will arrange for this to be done or, if you do not have a solicitor, you can ask a professional to do this on your behalf. You must not do it yourself.
It is possible to request that the court serve the injunction if you do not have a solicitor, in which case a court bailiff will hand-deliver the document to the respondent. The court will send the injunction and a statement of service to the local court officer or police station. Once it has been served, the bailiff will complete the statement of service as evidence that this has been done and return it to the court.
Alternatively, a process server can be engaged privately to deal with the service of the injunction.
What Happens if an Injunction is Breached?
Breaching an injunction is a criminal offence and the person in question can be arrested. It is open to the court to impose a range of penalties, including a fine, community service or a prison sentence.
Contact our Family Law Solicitors
If you need a family law injunction, we will be happy to help you. We can request an injunction from the court and arrange for this to be served on your behalf.
If you would like to speak to one of our expert family lawyers, email us at info@witansolicitors.co.uk or fill in our contact form and we will talk through your situation with you and discuss how we can help. We have offices in Birmingham, Northampton and London.
