Non-molestation order

A non-molestation order is a civil injunction made by the Family Court in England and Wales under section 42 of the Family Law Act 1996. A non-molestation order prohibits a named person, the respondent, from “molesting” another person with whom they are associated, such as a current or former partner or a relative, or from molesting a relevant child.[1][2] In deciding whether to make an order the court must have regard to all the circumstances, “including the need to secure the health, safety and well-being” of the applicant and of any relevant child.[1] The order can be made for a fixed period or until further order, and can be made without the respondent being told in advance where the court considers that just and convenient.[1][3]

There is no court fee for the application, which is made on Form FL401, and legal aid is available to applicants who pass the means test.[4][5][6] Since 1 July 2007 breaching a non-molestation order without reasonable excuse has been a criminal offence carrying up to five years’ imprisonment; the same conduct may alternatively be dealt with as a contempt of court, but not both.[7] In January to March 2026 the Family Court received 9,322 applications for domestic violence remedy orders, of which 82 per cent were for non-molestation orders, and made 9,867 orders.[8]

Written by Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK and Associate Member of Resolution. Reviewed by Belinda Atkins, Managing Director of Mediate UK. Last reviewed 6 September 2026; last updated 6 September 2026; next scheduled review March 2027.

Definition and purpose

Section 42(1) of the Family Law Act 1996 defines a non-molestation order as an order containing either or both of two provisions: a provision prohibiting the respondent from molesting another person who is associated with the respondent, and a provision prohibiting the respondent from molesting a relevant child.[1] The Act does not define “molestation”. The courts have treated it as a wide term that covers violence and threats of violence but also pestering, harassment, intimidation and other conduct that interferes with the peace and comfort of the person protected; an order may therefore prohibit, for example, contacting the applicant directly or indirectly, going to their home or workplace, or posting about them online.[1][9]

The order is protective, not punitive. Its purpose is to stop conduct and to give the person protected the security of knowing that a breach can be dealt with immediately by the police or the court. It does not decide who lives in the family home, which is the function of an occupation order made under sections 33 to 38 of the same Act, and it makes no finding about arrangements for children, which are dealt with under the Children Act 1989.[10] The two Part IV orders are frequently applied for together on the same form, and a non-molestation order may include a zone around the home that the respondent must not enter, although the High Court has held that such a zone must not interfere with a respondent’s existing right to occupy property, which is a matter for an occupation order.[5][11]

Non-molestation orders sit within the wider law on domestic abuse and family law. An order is one of the forms of evidence that opens the legal aid gateway for other family proceedings and that exempts a person from the requirement to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting before applying to court about children or finances.[12][13]

The power to make the order is in Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996, headed “Family Homes and Domestic Violence”, which came into force on 1 October 1997 and replaced a patchwork of earlier injunction powers under the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976, the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978 and the Matrimonial Homes Act 1983.[10][14] Section 42 creates the order; section 62 defines the people who may seek it; section 45 governs orders made without notice; section 46 deals with undertakings; section 47 with arrest; and section 42A, inserted by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, makes breach a criminal offence.[1][2][3][15][16][7]

Procedure is governed by Part 10 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, which requires the application to be supported by a witness statement, permits it to be made without notice provided the statement explains why notice has not been given, and requires personal service of the application and of any order on the respondent.[17] The application is made in the Family Court; the High Court retains a concurrent jurisdiction. Interpretation provisions, including the definitions of “harm”, “health” and “ill-treatment”, are in section 63.[18]

Who can apply: associated persons

A non-molestation order can be applied for by any person who is “associated” with the respondent within section 62(3) of the Family Law Act 1996, and the court may also make one of its own motion in any family proceedings to which the respondent is a party, “if the court considers that the order should be made for the benefit of any other party to the proceedings or any relevant child”.[1][2] Associated persons include current and former spouses and civil partners, cohabitants and former cohabitants, people who live or have lived in the same household other than as employee, tenant, lodger or boarder, relatives, people who are or were engaged, people who have or had “an intimate personal relationship with each other which is or was of significant duration”, the parents of the same child or people with parental responsibility for the same child, and parties to the same family proceedings.[2]

Associated persons under section 62(3) of the Family Law Act 1996
Section 62(3)Relationship with the respondent
(a)Are or have been married to each other[2]
(aa)Are or have been civil partners of each other[2]
(b)Are cohabitants or former cohabitants, meaning two people who are neither married nor civil partners but live together as if they were[2]
(c)Live or have lived in the same household, otherwise than merely because one is the other’s employee, tenant, lodger or boarder[2]
(d)Are relatives, a term defined in s.63 to include parents, children, grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews and first cousins, by blood, marriage, civil partnership or cohabitation[2][18]
(e)Have agreed to marry one another, whether or not the agreement has ended[2]
(eb)Have entered into a civil partnership agreement, whether or not it has ended[2]
(ea)Have or have had an intimate personal relationship with each other which is or was of significant duration[2]
(f)In relation to a child, are both parents of the child or have or have had parental responsibility for the child[2]
(g)Are parties to the same family proceedings, other than proceedings under Part IV itself[2]

A “relevant child” is any child who is living with, or might reasonably be expected to live with, either party; any child in relation to whom an order under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or the Children Act 1989 is in question in the proceedings; and any other child whose interests the court considers relevant.[2] GOV.UK summarises the associated persons rule in plain terms as applying where the respondent is “someone you’re having or have had a relationship with”, “a family member” or “someone you’re living or have lived with”, and notes that an applicant under 16 needs the permission of the High Court.[19] A person who is being harassed by someone with whom they have no such connection, such as a stranger or a neighbour, cannot use section 42 and must instead seek an injunction under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in the civil courts.

The test the court applies

Section 42(5) provides that in deciding whether to make a non-molestation order, and if so in what manner, “the court shall have regard to all the circumstances including the need to secure the health, safety and well-being” of the applicant (or, in a case where the court acts of its own motion, the person for whose benefit the order would be made) and of any relevant child.[1] There is no requirement to prove physical violence, and no balance of harm test of the kind that applies to occupation orders.[1] “Health” includes physical or mental health, and “ill-treatment” includes forms of ill-treatment which are not physical.[18]

The standard of proof is the civil standard, the balance of probabilities. The applicant’s witness statement is the primary evidence; police reports, medical records, messages and photographs are commonly exhibited. Because the test is forward-looking, directed at securing future health, safety and well-being, the court is concerned with whether an order is needed to control the respondent’s conduct rather than with punishing past behaviour. Where the respondent denies the allegations and the parties cannot agree, the court may list a contested hearing at which both give oral evidence; where the court can be satisfied that an order is needed on the basis of the written material, or where the respondent offers an undertaking, that may not be necessary.[17][15]

Applying: Form FL401, without notice orders and hearings

The application is made on Form FL401, which is the common form for non-molestation and occupation orders, accompanied by a witness statement setting out what has happened and why an order is needed; HM Courts and Tribunals Service publishes a template statement alongside the form.[5] The application can be prepared online through CourtNav, a free service run by RCJ Advice, and is filed by email, post or in person at a Family Court hearing centre that deals with domestic abuse cases.[20][21] The procedure, the sections of the form and the service rules are described in detail on Form FL401 at Family Court Wiki, and only the outline is given here.

Orders made without notice

Section 45(1) allows the court to make a non-molestation order “even though the respondent has not been given such notice of the proceedings as would otherwise be required” where it considers it just and convenient to do so.[3] In deciding whether to proceed without notice the court must have regard to all the circumstances, including any risk of significant harm to the applicant or a relevant child attributable to the respondent’s conduct if the order is not made immediately, whether the applicant is likely to be deterred or prevented from pursuing the application if an order is not made immediately, and whether the respondent is aware of the proceedings but is deliberately evading service.[3] Where an order is made without notice the court “must afford the respondent an opportunity to make representations relating to the order as soon as just and convenient at a full hearing”, commonly called the return hearing.[3] GOV.UK describes this as asking for “an emergency order when you apply”.[21]

Service and the hearing

The applicant must arrange for the application, the statement and any order to be served personally on the respondent, and must not do so personally; a solicitor, a process server or, on request using Form D89, the court bailiff does it without charge.[22][17] On an application on notice, service must take place not less than two days before the hearing unless the court abridges time.[17] Hearings are held in private.[23] At the return hearing or first hearing the respondent may accept the order, offer an undertaking, or contest the application, in which case the court gives directions for evidence and lists a further hearing. Where domestic abuse is alleged, the participation rules in Part 3A of the Family Procedure Rules apply, and a respondent who is not represented may be prohibited from cross-examining the applicant in person; these safeguards are explained on domestic abuse and family law.

Terms and duration

Section 42(6) provides that an order “may be expressed so as to refer to molestation in general, to particular acts of molestation, or to both”.[1] In practice orders are drafted in specific terms so that the respondent, and any police officer called to a breach, can tell exactly what is prohibited: typically not to use or threaten violence against the applicant, not to intimidate, harass or pester them, not to communicate with them except through solicitors or in a defined way about children, not to go within a stated distance of their home, and not to instruct or encourage anyone else to do any of these things.[5] Since an order made under section 42 is enforceable by criminal prosecution, precision in drafting matters.

Under section 42(7) an order “may be made for a specified period or until further order”.[1] Orders of six or twelve months are common, but there is no statutory maximum and an order may be extended on application before it expires. An order made in other family proceedings ceases to have effect if those proceedings are withdrawn or dismissed.[1] An order made without notice is usually expressed to last until the return hearing or for a fixed period, and is reconsidered at the full hearing.[3] Either party may apply to vary or discharge the order.[1]

Breach: criminal offence and contempt

Under section 42A(1) of the Family Law Act 1996 “a person who without reasonable excuse does anything that he is prohibited from doing by a non-molestation order is guilty of an offence”.[7] On conviction on indictment the maximum sentence is five years’ imprisonment, a fine or both; on summary conviction, imprisonment up to the general limit in a magistrates’ court, a fine or both.[7] Where the order was made without notice, the offence is committed only if the respondent was aware of the existence of the order at the time of the conduct.[7] The same conduct cannot be punished twice: where a person is convicted under section 42A the conduct is not punishable as a contempt of court, and where it has been punished as a contempt it cannot be prosecuted.[7]

The criminal route means that a power of arrest no longer needs to be, and can no longer be, attached to a non-molestation order: the police may arrest for the offence itself. Section 47, which formerly allowed a power of arrest to be attached to both Part IV orders, now applies only to occupation orders, but section 47(8) still allows the applicant to apply to the Family Court for a warrant of arrest where they consider the respondent has failed to comply with a non-molestation order and wish to pursue the matter as a contempt rather than a prosecution.[16] GOV.UK states plainly: “If the person named in your injunction does not follow the court order, you can call the police.”[23]

Which route is taken is in practice a decision for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service once a breach is reported; the applicant retains the option of committal proceedings in the Family Court, where the standard of proof is the criminal standard. A conviction, caution or charge for breach is itself a form of evidence that opens the legal aid gateway and triggers the statutory prohibition on cross-examination in person in later family proceedings.[12]

Undertakings

Instead of making an order the court may, under section 46(1), “accept an undertaking from any party to the proceedings” in any case where it has power to make a non-molestation or occupation order.[15] An undertaking is a formal promise to the court, usually in the same terms as the order sought, and is enforceable as if it were an order.[15] It is often offered by a respondent who does not admit the allegations but is willing to promise not to behave in the way alleged, and accepting it avoids a contested hearing.

There are two important limits. First, no power of arrest can be attached to an undertaking, and breach of an undertaking is not a criminal offence under section 42A; it can be enforced only by committal for contempt, which requires the applicant to return to court.[15][7] Second, section 46(3A) provides that the court “shall not accept an undertaking” instead of making a non-molestation order in any case where it appears that the respondent has used or threatened violence against the applicant or a relevant child and that an order is necessary so that any breach may be punishable under section 42A.[15] An undertaking given in Part IV proceedings is nonetheless listed as acceptable evidence of domestic abuse for legal aid and for the MIAM exemption, provided no cross-undertaking was given by the applicant.[12][13]

Cost and legal aid

There is no court fee for an application for a non-molestation order. The July 2026 edition of HM Courts and Tribunals Service fee list EX50 shows “Application for a non-molestation order” as “No fee”, and GOV.UK states: “There’s no fee when you apply, but you can choose to pay for legal advice to help you.”[4][9] Applications for a non-molestation order are within the scope of civil legal aid under paragraph 11 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, which covers “home rights, occupation orders and non-molestation orders” under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996.[6]

Because the injunction application is itself a protective application, no separate evidence of abuse is required to bring it within scope; the applicant must, however, satisfy the means test. From 6 April 2026 the civil legal aid limits are gross income of £2,657 a month, disposable income of £733 a month and disposable capital of £8,000, figures set out in the Legal Aid Agency’s eligibility keycard and compiled in a single table by Legal Aid 60, an information site published by Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki.[24][25] The wider rules are on legal aid in family law.

A non-molestation order also functions as evidence for other purposes. Once made, or once an undertaking has been accepted, the order is a “relevant protective injunction” that satisfies the domestic abuse evidence gateway under paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 to the 2012 Act, allowing the applicant to seek legal aid for a solicitor in related proceedings about children or finances, subject again to the means test.[26][12] The full list of accepted evidence, and how to obtain it, is set out in the Legal Aid Agency’s guidance and summarised on Legal Aid 60.[12][27] The same order exempts the holder from the requirement to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting before applying to court about children or finances.[13]

Domestic Abuse Protection Orders

Part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 created two new instruments intended in time to replace the existing patchwork of protective orders: the Domestic Abuse Protection Notice, issued by the police to give immediate protection, and the Domestic Abuse Protection Order, made by a court.[28][29] Unlike a non-molestation order, a DAPO can be applied for by the police, by the victim, by a third party with the court’s permission, or made by a court of its own motion in family, civil or criminal proceedings; it can impose positive requirements such as attendance at a behaviour change programme and electronic monitoring; and it “has no minimum or maximum duration”.[28][29] Breach is a criminal offence carrying up to five years’ imprisonment, mirroring section 42A.[30]

As at September 2026 the DAPO provisions are in force only in pilot areas. The pilot began on 27 November 2024 in Greater Manchester and the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley and Sutton, was extended on 5 March 2025 to Cleveland (Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees) and on 28 April 2025 to North Wales, and the commencement regulations currently run to 24 November 2026.[28][29] The GOV.UK guidance on Form FL401 notes that eligible applicants in those areas may apply for a DAPO instead.[5] On 28 August 2026 the government described itself as “rolling out” DAPOs but gave no national date.[31] Outside the pilot areas the non-molestation order remains the principal civil protective order, and the 1996 Act continues to apply in the pilot areas alongside the new orders.

Statistics

Domestic violence remedy applications and orders in the Family Court of England and Wales, Family Court Statistics Quarterly
MeasureJanuary to March 2026Note
Domestic violence remedy orders applied for9,322Up 5 per cent on the same quarter in 2025[8]
Share of applications that were non-molestation orders82 per centOccupation orders 18 per cent[8]
Domestic violence remedy orders made9,867Up 5 per cent[8]
Share of orders made that were non-molestation orders93 per centNon-molestation orders made up 4 per cent; occupation orders up 15 per cent[8]
Legal aid certificates completed for domestic violence workUp 27 per centCompared with the same quarter in 2025; figures affected by the 2025 Legal Aid Agency cyber attack backlog[32]

The Ministry of Justice publishes these figures quarterly under the heading “domestic violence remedy orders”, a category that covers both Part IV orders. The number of orders made exceeds the number of applications in most quarters because a single application often results in more than one order, for example a without notice order followed by a final order.[8] The proportion of applications made without notice is not published in the quarterly bulletin.

History

Development of the non-molestation order in England and Wales
DateDevelopment
1976 to 1983Injunctions against molestation were available under the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976 (county court), the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978 (magistrates) and the Matrimonial Homes Act 1983, each with different eligibility rules; all three were repealed when Part IV came into force[14]
1 October 1997Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996 came into force, creating the single non-molestation order and occupation order with a common list of associated persons and a power of arrest[14][10]
1 July 2007Section 42A, inserted by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, made breach of a non-molestation order a criminal offence and removed the power of arrest from such orders; the 2004 Act also extended associated persons to same-sex cohabitants and to couples who had never lived together[7][2]
5 December 2005Civil partners and former civil partners became associated persons on the coming into force of the Civil Partnership Act 2004[2]
1 April 2013The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 removed most private family law from legal aid but kept Part IV applications in scope and made a protective injunction one of the forms of evidence that opens the gateway to legal aid in other family cases[6][26]
8 January 2018The time limit on domestic abuse evidence for legal aid was removed[27]
27 November 2024The Domestic Abuse Protection Order pilot began under Part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021[28][29]

Getting help

Because there is no fee and the form is designed for use without a lawyer, a substantial proportion of applications are made by people acting for themselves, often with the help of a domestic abuse charity or an independent domestic violence adviser. Specialist free services exist for the purpose of preparing the application.[20][33]

See also

References

  1. Family Law Act 1996, section 42: Non-molestation orders. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  2. Family Law Act 1996, section 62: Meaning of ‘cohabitants’, ‘relevant child’ and ‘associated persons’. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  3. Family Law Act 1996, section 45: Ex parte orders. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  4. Family court fees (EX50). HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 13 July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  5. Apply for a non-molestation or occupation order: Form FL401. HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 16 June 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  6. Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 11: Family homes and domestic violence. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  7. Family Law Act 1996, section 42A: Offence of breaching non-molestation order. legislation.gov.uk. Inserted by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004; in force 1 July 2007. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  8. Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  9. Get an injunction if you’ve been the victim of domestic abuse. GOV.UK. updated 2 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  10. Family Law Act 1996, Part IV: Family Homes and Domestic Violence. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  11. Deitsch, K.. Zonal non-molestation order provisions: occupation orders through the backdoor?. Guildford Chambers. 17 March 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  12. Evidence requirements for private family law matters (LASPO 2012): guidance, version 15. Legal Aid Agency. 15 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  13. Practice Direction 3A: Family Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs), paragraphs 19 and 20. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  14. The Family Law Act 1996 (Commencement No. 2) Order 1997, SI 1997/1892. legislation.gov.uk. Part IV in force 1 October 1997. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  15. Family Law Act 1996, section 46: Undertakings. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  16. Family Law Act 1996, section 47: Arrest for breach of order. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  17. Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 10: Applications under Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  18. Family Law Act 1996, section 63: Interpretation of Part IV. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  19. Get an injunction if you’ve been the victim of domestic abuse: who can apply for a non-molestation order. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  20. CourtNav: apply for a non-molestation or occupation order. RCJ Advice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  21. Get an injunction if you’ve been the victim of domestic abuse: how to apply. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  22. Get an injunction if you’ve been the victim of domestic abuse: after you submit your application. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  23. Get an injunction if you’ve been the victim of domestic abuse: your court hearing. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  24. Civil legal aid: means testing (eligibility keycard 62 and Means Assessment Guidance). Legal Aid Agency. updated 5 August 2026; figures apply from 6 April 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  25. The legal aid means test, explained. Legal Aid 60 (Family Legal Ltd). Figures in force from 6 April 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  26. Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 12: Victims of domestic violence and family matters. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  27. Evidence of domestic abuse for legal aid. Legal Aid 60 (Family Legal Ltd). Accessed 5 September 2026.
  28. Domestic Abuse Protection Notices (DAPNs) and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs). Home Office and Ministry of Justice. updated 28 April 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  29. Domestic Abuse Act 2021, Part 3, sections 27 to 34: Domestic abuse protection orders. legislation.gov.uk. In force in pilot areas only, from 27 November 2024. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  30. Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 39: Offence of breaching domestic abuse protection order. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  31. PM accelerates roll out of police rape and sexual offence teams. Prime Minister’s Office and Home Office. 28 August 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  32. Legal aid statistics England and Wales bulletin, January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  33. FLOWS: Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors. RCJ Advice in partnership with Rights of Women. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  34. National Domestic Abuse Helpline. Refuge. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  35. Men’s Advice Line. Respect. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  36. National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline. Galop. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  37. Family law advice line. Rights of Women. Accessed 5 September 2026.

This article is part of Family Law Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd. It is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.