How Do Non-Molestation Orders Work?

A non-molestation order is a court injunction that helps to prevent harm to either a spouse, partner and/or a child or any other associated person. This type of order can be issued to protect various scenarios, such as abuse, intimidation, harassment, threats, and unwanted contact. In this blog, we look at how a non-molestation order works and the witness statement needed for the Family Court.

Non-molestation orders explained

In the UK, ‘molestation’ is a broad legal term, and it does not just apply to sexual abuse. In family law it covers abusive, harassing, intimidating, threatening, or violent behaviour toward someone who’s already associated with the perpetrator of abuse.

As a type of court injunction, a non-molestation order prohibits harmful behaviour. It can stop someone contacting you by phone, text, email, social media, and being near you, your home, or other places specified by the Family Court.

Breaching a non-molestation order is a criminal offence if there is no reasonable excuse. The Court can impose a fine, community order, or up to 5 years’ imprisonment, depending on the seriousness. The police can arrest the person suspected of the breach, and the matter could be dealt with by the Magistrates’ Court or Crown Court.

People often get confused between police intervention and the purpose of a non-molestation order. Police action is a response to an event, while a non-molestation order prevents future contact or abuse. The order can protect against behaviour that may not be enough for a criminal charge. The police only act based on the facts and evidence available at the time.

What are the reasons for a non-molestation order?

Below are three real-life scenarios where our family law team have advised and applications for non-molestation orders have been made:

• A wife had experienced years of coercive and controlling behaviour from her husband after being married to him for a number of years. After an incident of physical assault, the wife fled her home. The husband was arrested and he was given bail conditions. The police had not confirmed whether bail would be extended, so due to the upcoming end of bail conditions, a non-molestation order application was made. As the Court felt the wife needed protection, a non-molestation order was made for when the bail conditions ended.

• A female client had moved out of the former matrimonial home due to a threat of violence from her partner. The ex-partner was unaware of the location of her new property. However, a few weeks later he obtained her address via a third party and then began a campaign of molestation against her. This included visiting her place of work, sending threatening messages and driving past her home. A non-molestation order application was made, and the Court made an order covering a number of weeks. At the return hearing, the ex-partner did not attend, and the Court felt it necessary for the order to continue to ensure her safety.

• A father had sole care of his son following proceedings under the Children Act 1989. A final ‘live with’ child arrangements order was made, with the mother only having indirect contact with her son. Soon after the proceedings had ended, the mother started sending a large quantity of threatening messages to the father. As this included direct threats of harm to the son, the father applied for a non-molestation order to protect himself and his son.

An order was made to ensure that the mother didn’t attend within metres of the family home or the son’s school. She was not permitted to contact the father or son without permission. The mother didn’t contest the order at the return hearing. Therefore, the order continued as the Court felt it necessary for the father and son to have protection. The father also applied to the Family Court to amend the child arrangements order, given the mother’s conduct towards her son.

What evidence do I need to apply for a non-molestation order?

Your family solicitor can help you apply for a non-molestation order using a FL401 form. You will need to provide a supporting witness statement explaining what has happened and why you need protection. If you want your address to be kept private from the person you’re applying for protection against, your solicitor will also ask you to complete a C8 form too.

In your witness statement, you should include details of the abuse, harassment, threats, incidents, dates, messages, police logs, or medical evidence, if you have these. You can also exhibit items to your statement such as messages received or copies of police logs.

Your solicitor will then submit everything to the Family Court where your case will be considered. The application may be submitted in two ways. A ‘without notice’ means the other person will not be told prior to the first hearing of the application. If you submit on a ‘with notice’ basis, this means notice will be given to the other party.

If the order is granted on a ‘without notice’ basis, the other person must be served with it to ensure it’s enforceable. This is usually done directly by the Court, but a process server may also be instructed if there are any difficulties in making sure the other party is correctly served. If the Order is made giving notice to the other person, then usually a copy of the Order is provided to them at Court or shortly after.  

There are no additional Court fees for an application for a non-molestation order. If you need urgent protection, your solicitor can ask the Family Court for your application to be dealt with as a ‘without notice order’. As above, the other person is not told about the application before the judge looks at it. A hearing will then be held at a later date where both parties can be heard, and the Court considers the need for the Order continuing.

Your non-molestation order solicitors

Applying for a non-molestation order can be very stressful and you will need to supply detailed evidence. Although you can apply on your own, it’s usually recommended to seek the help of a family solicitor to help support you through the process. Non-molestation orders are not automatically granted and there’s a risk that an order might be rejected by the Court.

At Salusbury Harding and Barlow, our caring and sympathetic family law solicitors can help you apply for a non-molestation order. We will explain how this order works and when it can be used to protect you and your children.

For advice on non-molestation orders, please get in touch or email: Carly.Price@shbsolicitors.co.uk to arrange a face-to-face or telephone appointment.