Once your order is made: a next-steps checklist
Winning the order isn't quite the end. For it to protect you, it has to be served on the other person, the police need to know about it, and you should know what to do if it is ignored. Work through this checklist.
☐ Get it served
The order only binds the other person once they are aware of it. Normally that means a copy is put into their hands (personal service) together with your application, statement and the notice of the return hearing.
- Never hand it over yourself.
- The court can send a bailiff to serve it for free – ask on form D89.
- Alternatively an adult friend or relative, or a professional process server, can do it.
- Whoever serves it fills in a statement of service (form FL415) and files it with the court.
Full details: serving the order.
☐ Make sure the police have it
Courts usually pass a copy to the police, but check rather than assume. Call 101, ask for your local station and confirm the order is on their system. Carry a copy, and keep a photo of it on your phone.
☐ Prepare for the return hearing
A without notice order is followed by a return hearing, usually within around 14 days. The other person can accept the order, offer an undertaking (a promise to the court) or challenge it. See our return hearing guide.
☐ Know what to do if it's broken
- Breaching a non-molestation order is a crime with a maximum of five years' imprisonment. Ring 999 in an emergency or 101 to report a breach.
- Note down what happened and when, and keep messages, call logs and photos.
- You can instead ask the Family Court to treat it as contempt of court – but the person can't be punished twice for the same breach.
Ignoring an occupation order is not automatically a crime. If a power of arrest is attached the police can arrest; if not, you can ask the court for an arrest warrant.
More in what to do if the order is broken.
☐ Diary the end date
Either party can apply on form FL403 to change (vary) or end (discharge) the order. If you still need protection, apply before the order expires – once it has lapsed it can't be extended and you would have to start again. See how long the order lasts.
☐ Think about contact with the children
An order can still allow contact with children in a safe, defined way – for example at a contact centre or through a named relative. Where there is also a child arrangements case or order, the court will take the non-molestation order into account. Make sure each court knows about the other case.
☐ Keep your safety plan up to date
A court order is one layer of protection. Local domestic abuse services can help with safety planning, housing and support through any criminal case. National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (free, 24 hours). Men's Advice Line: 0808 801 0327. Wales: Live Fear Free, 0808 80 10 800.
Let us draft your court papers – free
Tell us what has been happening, in your own words. We write up your FL401 application and supporting statement at no cost, then explain how to sign them and get them to the Family Court. The court charges nothing either.