Protection from domestic abuse: non-molestation and occupation orders

If you are in immediate danger, or have just been abused, call 999. The police can act straight away. A court order takes longer.

You can also report domestic abuse to the police when you are not in immediate danger.

The person named in an order can be arrested if they break it. There is no court fee for any of these applications.

1. A non-molestation order protects you or your child from being harmed or threatened by the person who has abused you.
2. An occupation order decides who can live in the family home or enter the area around it.
3. A domestic abuse protection order (DAPO) protects from all forms of domestic abuse, but only where the person you need protection from lives in a pilot area.

You can usually apply for a non-molestation order if the person is someone you are or were in a relationship with, a family member, or someone you live or lived with. GOV.UK lists the relationships in full. An occupation order depends on your connection to the home.

If you are under 16 you need permission from the High Court. If you are 16 or 17 you need a litigation friend, usually a parent, family member or close friend.

Fill in form FL401 and a supporting statement explaining what happened. You can use the template supporting statement that comes with the form, or write your own. Your own statement must end with the statement of truth GOV.UK gives, signed and dated. The court rules require the application to be supported by a witness statement.

To keep your address and telephone number private, also fill in form C8. Then email, post or hand the documents in to a court that deals with domestic abuse cases. You can also prepare the application online with RCJ Citizens Advice's CourtNav service, which can have a legal adviser check it.

Wren can fill in the FL401 and the C8 from your answers for you to check, sign and send. Wren never sends anything to the court.

If you need protection immediately, ask for an emergency order when you apply. The person is not told first, so this is called a without notice application. Your supporting statement must give the reasons why notice has not been given.

The court will hold a hearing which you must attend. An emergency order usually lasts until the next hearing, and the person must still be told about the application afterwards.

You can only apply for a DAPO if the person you need protection from lives in one of the pilot areas below, and only at one of the family courts that hear them: Manchester, Stockport, Wigan, Croydon, Bromley, Teesside, Caernarfon, Prestatyn or Wrexham. You may have to travel there for a hearing. If you cannot, you can apply for a non-molestation or occupation order at your local family court instead.

A DAPO application is made on form DA1 with a supporting witness statement. If you do not want your contact details shared, leave them out of the application and use form C8. You must not serve the papers yourself: if you have no solicitor, send form D89 with your application so a court official serves them.

1. Greater Manchester.
2. The London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley or Sutton.
3. Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland or Stockton-on-Tees.
4. North Wales (Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham).

After you apply, the court gives you a notice of proceedings with the hearing date and sends back a sealed copy of your application. The sealed application, your statement and the notice of the hearing must be given to the other person in person (served) not less than 2 days before the hearing, unless the court sets a different time.

Do not serve the documents yourself. A solicitor will do it if you have one. Otherwise you can ask the court to serve them for free on form D89, or pay a professional process server. After the papers are served, the person who served them fills in a statement of service on form FL415.

The hearing is held in private. You can ask for it to be by video or phone if you need extra protection or it is hard for you to come to court, and the court provides an interpreter if you asked for one.

You can apply so that you are not questioned directly by the other person: use form EX740 if you are making an accusation of abuse, or EX741 if you are accused.

At the end the court may accept a promise (an undertaking) from the other person, ask for more information and make a short interim order meanwhile, or make an order.

The order must be served on the other person in person as soon as reasonably practicable, again not by you: use form D89 or a process server if you have no solicitor. The court sends the order and the statement of service to the police station named in the order.

If the person does not follow the order, call the police. You can also ask the court that made the order for a warrant of arrest on form FL407. The application has to be sworn, and the court only issues a warrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe the order was broken.

If your order is ending and you still need protection, apply to extend it on form FL403 before it ends. The court usually holds another hearing within 3 weeks. Either side can also use form FL403 to ask the court to change or end an order.

You can get advice on applying from a charity such as Refuge, Women's Aid, the Men's Advice Line or Citizens Advice, or check whether you can get legal aid to pay for a solicitor. Support Through Court can help you on the day of a hearing. Their websites are listed under Where these facts come from, below.