Applying for an Injunction

Do you need protection from domestic abuse or coercive and controlling behaviour? Are you worried about your estranged husband or wife transferring money to their parents or siblings to try and hide money from your divorce solicitor?

If you need help with applying for an injunction order our family law solicitors can assist and guide you through the injunction application process.

For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

What is an injunction?

An injunction is an order from the family court telling someone to stop doing something.

An injunction order can stop:

An ex-partner verbally harassing you
A spouse from physically or sexually assaulting you
A partner from exerting financial control over you
A spouse from psychologically abusing you
The other parent from emotionally abusing or otherwise abusing your children
A partner from stopping you from returning to the family home
A husband or wife or civil partner from transferring the house or the savings to their relatives to defeat your divorce financial settlement claim

If you are not sure if you need an injunction order the best thing to do is call one of our family law solicitors to see how we can help you.

Do I need an injunction order or to call the police?

In an emergency, we would always recommend that you call the police. If they arrest and charge your partner and impose bail conditions you may decide that you do not need to apply for an injunction order as the police can arrest your partner again if he or she breaches their bail.

If you do not want to contact the police, they will not get involved as they say it is a ‘civil matter’, or they do not give you the sort of support you were looking for, then you may need an injunction order. For example, a police officer may tell you that you need to apply for a child arrangement order if you and your ex-partner are arguing about where your child should live. For example, the police may just warn or caution your partner about their behaviour. If your concerns are money-related, the police will advise you to talk to a family law solicitor about getting a freezing or family law money injunction.

Common myths about injunctions

There are a lot of misconceptions about injunctions. Here we dispel some common ones:

You don’t need to be married or in a civil partnership to apply for an injunction
Men or women can apply for injunctions
If you are in a same-sex relationship you can apply for an injunction order
An injunction order does not change legal ownership of the family home but the order may give the injunction order applicant the right to live in the family home until the end of the injunction order or until the court makes a financial court order
An injunction order can be enforced by the police
You can apply for an injunction even if you did not report the domestic violence to the police
You do not need to have been physically assaulted to apply for an injunction – if you have experienced any type of domestic abuse you can apply to the court for an injunction order
You can apply for an injunction order even if the police have arrested or charged your partner
You do not need to own your home to apply for an occupation injunction order. You can also apply if you rent your house or if your partner is the sole legal owner
You do not need to have started no-fault divorce proceedings before you can apply for an injunction

Applying for an injunction involves filing a court application with a statement in support and paying a court fee. If your application is urgent the court can agree to hold a first hearing without giving your partner notice of the hearing. If the court makes an injunction order at a without-notice hearing your partner will have the opportunity to object to it and put their case at another injunction hearing.

The court can make an injunction order that prevents your ex-partner (and if relevant other family members or their agents) from continuing to abuse you. This type of injunction is called a non-molestation order. A court may make a non-molestation order at a without-notice hearing but list your application for an occupation order injunction at a hearing when your partner is present. An occupation order or ouster injunction order says if you can occupy the family home and if your partner can be excluded from all or part of the property. The injunction order does not transfer ownership of the family home – you will still need to negotiate a financial settlement or ask the court to make a financial court order.

Family law help

As well as needing help with an injunction application you may also need assistance with:

Sorting out residence and contact arrangements for your child – if you are concerned about your child’s safety or your ex-partner’s ability to prioritise your child’s needs you may need to apply for a child arrangement order or prohibited steps order
Reaching a divorce financial settlement or a property settlement if you were in a cohabiting relationship
A new Will because of your separation from your spouse or partner

For expert family advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.