Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse Solicitors.

If you are experiencing domestic abuse or harassment, we can advise on the ways you can use the law to protect yourself. There are a number of Court Orders we can help you apply for that will enable you to protect your personal safety and your right to live safely in your home – even if you are not the owner of the property. In some cases, the other party involved does not have to be told about the court action until the order protecting you has been granted.

Anything you tell us about domestic abuse or harassment will be treated in the strictest confidence. If you are in immediate danger though, you should contact the police in the first instance.

Non-Molestation Order

A non-molestation order serves as a means by which you can protect yourself or a relevant child from abusive behaviour. It generally protects against a wide range of actions including harassment, violence, or threats. This is a court-enforced order which prevents the individual whom the order has been made against from interfering with/molesting/threatening an another person or encouraging a third party to threaten/abuse that person on their behalf. The terms of the molestation order will be drafted according to the situation to appropriately fit the parties involved.

Only individuals associated with the respondent (the individual who the order is against) can apply for a non-molestation order. Associated persons include, but are not limited to, current, past, or intended spouses or civil partners, cohabitants, relatives, those with an intimate relationship of a significant duration, those with parental responsibility for a child and parents of a child. Unassociated persons cannot obtain a non-molestation order (though there is help for them in the form of a Protection from Harassment Order).

Before granting a non-molestation order, the court generally considers factors such as the applicant’s well-being, safety and health (mental or physical), and of any relevant child in the situation. Essentially, the court will consider what the effect of the molestation or abuse is on the applicant or related children more so than the acts of abuse in themselves.  This means that something which would not necessarily be abusive towards one person may be regarded as abusive towards another.

Such an order may state that the respondent must not harass or intimidate the applicant, contact the applicant or relevant children, damage or attempt to damage the family home or any of the applicant’s property, or use or threaten violence towards the applicant or any relevant children. Terms of the order may be amended where necessary.

This order can also be used in terms of spacial proximity (zonal or stay away orders) – it can prohibit the individual from coming within a specific distance of the family residence, other relevant property, or the schools of any related children. In an instance where contact with relevant children has not been prohibited, the non-molestation order could have a clause which allows the respondent contact the applicant directly, or through Solicitors in order to make child contact arrangements.

In terms of duration, a non-molestation order could last a specified time or indefinitely – it is at the judge’s discretion and varies from case to case though it tends to be for a set period such as 6 months or 1 year.

Occupation Order

Similar to non-molestation orders, only associated persons may apply for an occupation order. An occupation order grants the applicant the right to occupy a property or part of a property. Mortgage, rent and utility payment responsibilities can also be determined with an occupation order.

In assessing whether to make an occupation order, the court will consider where the balance of harm lies, i.e. what harm is there in excluding a person from a property compared with not and if one of the two parties has to leave, who will be most fundamentally affected in a negative way.  The likelihood is that the party who is least able to rehouse themselves somewhere else in the short term will be allowed to remain in the property.  Reasons why a person would be least able to rehouse themselves include being a lower earner compared with the other person, having a disability of special need that restricts their choice of housing or being the primary carer or children, meaning that they would have to rehouse themselves and the children too.

The duration of the occupation order usually depends on the factors the parties relied on in the occupation order application. In some instances, this could be for a specified period until a particular event occurs, and in others it could be for a maximum of six months but subject to renewal.

Our solicitors are available to you, through booking a consultation, to advise on the processes and scope involved in an occupation or non-molestation order which you may like to file or which may have been filed against you.