DOMESTIC ABUSE & INJUNCTIONS
Non-Molestation Orders
About Non-Molestation Orders
A non-molestation order is an injunction from the family court that forbids someone you are associated with from molesting you or a child, and in the standardised form used since January 2026 it normally bans contact and going to where you live. There is no court fee to apply, and breaking the order without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. We advise people applying and people who have been served with an application, from the first statement to the hearing that follows.
Who this is for
- People being threatened, followed, messaged or controlled by a partner, former partner or relative
- Parents who need contact from the other parent limited to arrangements for the children
- People who have left an abusive relationship and are still being contacted or followed, or having the other person turn up at their home
- People served with an application who need advice on the papers before the hearing date
How RakLAW helps
- Advise whether a non-molestation order, an order about the home, or both, fits your situation
- Draft a supporting statement that sets out the pattern of abuse, its effect and the evidence for it
- Draft order terms that are clear, proportionate and capable of being enforced
- Arrange personal service by court bailiff or process server and file the certificate of service
- Ask for participation directions where being in the same room or giving evidence is unsafe
- Act for respondents on agreeing an order, offering an undertaking or contesting the allegations
What a Non-Molestation Order Does
If you are in immediate danger call 999; the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247.
A non-molestation order is made by the family court under section 42 of the Family Law Act 1996. It forbids a named person from molesting someone associated with them, or from molesting a relevant child, which means a child who lives with or might reasonably be expected to live with either party, and any other child whose interests the court considers relevant. An order about who may live in the home is a separate remedy: see occupation orders. Domestic abuse protection orders are being piloted in some areas only: our domestic abuse injunction advice explains where.
What the order says has been standardised. The President of the Family Division's Guidance 2026, effective from 12 January 2026, says orders should be protective, understandable to both people, proportionate and readily capable of enforcement. It moves away from vague terms such as harassment, pestering or molestation.
That means a clear ban on contact of any kind, direct, indirect or through someone else, with narrow exceptions such as contact through solicitors or about arrangements for the children, and a ban on going to where you live or are staying. An exclusion area, or an address such as a school, nursery or workplace, can be added, named by road or as a clearly defined area.
Who Can Apply and Against Whom
You can apply if you are associated with the person you need protection from. Section 62 of the Act sets out who counts:
- current and former spouses and civil partners
- cohabitants and former cohabitants
- people who live or have lived in the same household, other than as an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder
- relatives
- people who agreed to marry or to form a civil partnership
- people who have had an intimate personal relationship of significant duration
- parents of, or people with parental responsibility for, the same child
- parties to the same family proceedings, other than the injunction proceedings themselves
GOV.UK sets out a shorter list in everyday terms, and attaches a period of more than 6 months to relationships outside those categories. The Act sets no minimum length of relationship. A cohabitant or former cohabitant means two people living together as if they were a married couple or civil partners. For a partner you were never married to and never lived with, the question is whether the relationship was intimate and of significant duration. Where the connection was an engagement or a civil partnership agreement that has since ended, the application has to be made within three years of it ending: the agreement has to be evidenced, for example in writing, by a ring or by a ceremony.
A child under 16 needs the court's permission to apply, which GOV.UK says comes from the High Court.
You do not have to have been hit. Domestic abuse in law covers physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and psychological or emotional abuse. Whether you can apply turns on being an associated person under section 62, not on that definition.
If the person you need protection from is not on the section 62 list, a non-molestation order is not the route and we will tell you what is.
The Test the Court Applies
In deciding whether to make an order, and on what terms, the court must have regard to all the circumstances, including the need to secure your health, safety and well-being and that of any relevant child.
The court also balances your need for protection against keeping interference with the other person's rights proportionate. That is why barring all communication is unlikely to be appropriate where you have children together, and why an order must not stop the other person serving evidence in answer to the application. The court may also decide an injunction is not needed where protection with the same terms is already in place by another route.
An order made before the other person has been told records that only your evidence was before the court and that no findings of fact have been made. At the hearing that follows, they may agree to the order continuing with no findings made. Urgent routes are covered on our pages about applications made without notice and emergency injunctions.
Your Statement and the Evidence
The application is made on form FL401 with a witness statement. The statement carries a statement of truth, so it has to be accurate and specific; HMCTS publishes a template you can follow. Form C8 keeps your address and telephone number off the papers the other person sees.
The Family Justice Council's best practice guidance says the statement must:
- set out the relationship that makes you associated persons
- set out the incidents and pattern of abuse, the effect on you and any child, and the supporting evidence
- justify every term you ask for, and any application made before the other person is told
- set out any vulnerability, and say whether you object to the application being decided on the papers
Generic statements that do not show your own circumstances are not acceptable, and an application should cover every form of abuse, not only physical incidents, because focusing on physical abuse can hide the risk of coercive and controlling behaviour. Ask for both dates of birth and the other person's contact details on the face of the order, because that helps the police enforce it.
How the Application Process Works
- Free 15-minute consultation. We go through what has happened and advise whether an injunction fits.
- Papers. We draft form FL401, your witness statement, form C8 where your contact details must stay private, and a draft order.
- Issue. The application goes to a court that deals with domestic abuse cases, and a judge then considers it on the papers or lists it.
- Before the other person is told. The court can make the order on the papers with a return date, refuse it and list it on notice, or hear your evidence first.
- Service. Personal service is the starting point, by a court bailiff, using form D89, or by a process server, never by you. The certificate goes in on form FL415 and the police get a copy.
- The hearing. Hearings are in private. Where an order was made before the other person was told, a form served with it (FL435) asks them to say in advance whether they agree to it continuing, do not oppose it with no findings made, or oppose it.
- Afterwards. Either of you can apply to vary or discharge the order, and an extension goes in on form FL403 while it still runs.
When Legal Advice Is Especially Important
You can apply without a solicitor: an application can be prepared online through CourtNav and, if you are not able to get legal aid or pay for legal advice, checked free of charge by a legal adviser at RCJ Citizens Advice. Advice matters most when:
- you need protection before the other person learns you have applied
- you need them to leave the home, or you have been shut out of it, which is a question about an occupation order
- an order has been broken, or you are said to have broken one: see breach of a non-molestation order
- there is a case about the children, because the two sets of proceedings should be managed together: see domestic abuse and child arrangements and fact finding hearings
- the pressure is to marry, or comes from the wider family: see forced marriage protection orders and honour-based abuse
- your right to remain in the UK rested on the relationship that has ended: see settlement after domestic abuse
We are privately funded and do not offer legal aid; see how we charge for family work.
How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help
We advise on non-molestation orders from our London office at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, a short walk from Tower Bridge, with Tower Hill, London Bridge and Bermondsey nearby, and we act for applicants and for people who have been served. Every matter starts with a free 15-minute consultation, and we will say honestly whether the evidence supports the order you want.
We draft the statement and the order, arrange service, deal with the return date and advise on what comes next, whether that is a child arrangements order or the future of the family home. Call 0203 345 2000 or book an appointment. Our founder and solicitor is Rakesh Prajapati.
Frequently asked questions
What does a non-molestation order stop someone doing?
It forbids the person named in it from molesting you, and it can forbid molesting a relevant child. Orders in the standardised form ban contact of any kind, directly or through another person, with narrow exceptions such as messages about arrangements for the children, and ban the person from going to where you live or are staying.
Do I need to have been physically assaulted to apply?
No. Domestic abuse in law includes controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and psychological or emotional abuse, and it makes no difference whether it was a single incident or a pattern. Harm under the Family Law Act means ill-treatment or the impairment of health, health includes mental health, and ill-treatment includes forms that are not physical.
Who counts as an associated person?
Section 62 of the Family Law Act 1996 covers current and former spouses and civil partners, cohabitants and former cohabitants, relatives, engaged couples, people who have had an intimate personal relationship of significant duration, and people who share parental responsibility for a child. Household members count too, unless they are an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder.
Is there a court fee for a non-molestation order?
No. GOV.UK confirms there is no fee when you apply. A process server charges for service if the order is served that way rather than by a court bailiff, and our own charges for family work are set out on our fees page.
How long does a non-molestation order last?
The 2026 guidance says the order must state a fixed end date on its face, and the period is a matter for the judge on all the circumstances of the case. You can apply to extend it, but only while it is still running.
Can the court act before the other person knows I have applied?
Yes, where the court considers it just and convenient. The 2026 guidance treats an order made without notice as the exception rather than the rule, but it also says that exceptional does not mean the same as rare, and your statement must explain why notice cannot be given. Section 45 directs the court to consider the risk of significant harm if an order is not made immediately and whether you would be deterred from going on with the application. They are then served with the order and given a hearing.
What happens if the order is broken?
Doing anything the order forbids, without reasonable excuse, at a time when the person is aware of the order, is a criminal offence under section 42A of the Family Law Act 1996, and if the case is dealt with in the Crown Court it carries up to five years' imprisonment, a fine or both. GOV.UK tells applicants to call the police.
Can the other person offer a promise instead of an order?
They can offer an undertaking, enforceable as if the court had made an order in the same terms, but no power of arrest can attach to it and breaking it is not a criminal offence. The court must not accept one where the other person has used or threatened violence and an order is necessary for protection.
Do I have to face the other person at the hearing?
Not necessarily. A person who is or is at risk of being a victim of domestic abuse is assumed to be vulnerable, and the court can direct a separate entrance or waiting area, a screen or attendance by live link. Where the prohibition on questioning in person applies, a qualified legal representative can be appointed to put the questions instead.
I have been served with an application. What should I do?
Do not contact the applicant, and take advice on the papers before the hearing date. An order made before you were told must state that you can apply to set it aside without waiting for the return date. At the hearing you can agree to an order with no findings of fact made, offer an undertaking, or contest the allegations.
Can the order protect my children as well as me?
Yes. The order can forbid molesting a relevant child, which includes a child living with or expected to live with either of you, and the court must have regard to that child's health, safety and well-being. Where there is also a case about arrangements for the children, the court is expected to manage the two sets of proceedings together.
Can I apply if we are still living in the same house?
Yes. A non-molestation order can be made whether or not you live together, and it can still forbid contact and stop the other person coming to an address. If you need them to leave the home, or to stay out of part of it, that is an occupation order under the same Act.
Speak to a RakLAW Solicitor
Book a confidential consultation with our family law team. We will talk through your situation, explain your options, and set out the practical next steps.
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