How to fill in form FL401: non-molestation and occupation orders

Family court · Protective orders · England and Wales · Last checked 23 October 2026

This guide walks through the FL401 in the order the form itself uses, so you can keep it open alongside. It explains what each part asks for, not what you should say: only you know your situation, and an adviser can help with the substance.

What form FL401 is for

FL401 is used to apply for two kinds of injunction under Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996:

• a non-molestation order (section 42), which forbids the person named in it, the respondent, from specified behaviour towards you or a relevant child;
• an occupation order (sections 33 to 38), which decides who may live in, return to or enter the home or part of it.

You can apply for one or both on the same form. Our non-molestation order guide and occupation order guide explain what the court weighs for each; this page is about the paperwork.

When you need it, and when another route applies

You can only use FL401 against someone you are "associated" with: a current or former spouse, civil partner, partner or fiancé(e), someone you live or lived with, a relative, or a person who shares parental responsibility for your child. Section 4 of the form tests this. If the person is not associated with you, an FL401 is not the route, and the form itself suggests getting legal advice.

Other routes exist:

• Domestic abuse protection order (DAPO). At the time of checking, gov.uk says DAPOs are being piloted only where the respondent lives in Greater Manchester, the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley or Sutton, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland or Stockton-on-Tees, or North Wales. They use form DA1, not FL401. Everywhere else, FL401 remains the family court route.
• CourtNav. The form mentions CourtNav, an online tool from RCJ Citizens Advice. If you use it, it prepares the FL401 and statement for you.
• Existing order you want changed or extended. That is form FL403, covered in our FL403 guide.

Fee and Help with Fees

There is no fee. The EX50 family fees list shows "No fee" for non-molestation, occupation and DAPO applications, and no fee for bailiff service of these applications when made by the applicant. You do not need Help with Fees (EX160) for the FL401 itself. Our guide to what a non-molestation order costs covers legal aid and other costs.

Before you start

• Get the current version. At the time of checking, the gov.uk page (last updated 16 June 2025) carries FL401 (02.23), the template statement FL401T (07.21), and large print, easy read and Welsh versions.
• Your age. The first page asks. If you are 16 or 17, an adult must help and complete form FP9. Under 16, you need the court's permission (form FP2) as well.
• Dates. When the relationship began and ended, any marriage or civil partnership date, and dates of the incidents you will describe. Approximate months are acceptable where you cannot be exact.
• The respondent's details. Full name, date of birth and an address where they can be served. If you do not know their home address, the form asks for another, such as a workplace or a relative's address.
• Home and money details if you want an occupation order: mortgage lender or landlord name and address, and whose name is on the mortgage or tenancy.
• Documents you want the court to see, such as police references, medical letters or printed messages. Each one goes in as an exhibit with a coversheet.

Section by section

Before you start (page 2)

One question about your age, which decides whether you need the extra forms above.

Section 1: Your situation

Question 1.1 asks which order or orders you want. Questions 1.2 to 1.4 cover the without notice option: whether you want it, which of three reasons apply, and why you think those things might happen. The three reasons mirror section 45 of the Act: a risk of significant harm if the order is not made immediately; that you are likely to be deterred or prevented from applying; or that the respondent is aware of the case but deliberately avoiding service. Questions 1.5 and 1.6 ask about any police bail conditions and when they end. Question 1.7 is for anything else the court should know, such as illness, disability or pregnancy.

Section 2: Your details

Name, other names, date of birth, address and how to contact you. Question 2.4 asks whether your contact details can be shared with the respondent; if not, leave them blank and use form C8. The notes suggest giving a different postal address if the respondent might open your post, a new email account if they can access yours, and safe call times between 9am and 5pm. Questions 2.10 to 2.16 are for a legal representative, if you have one.

Section 3: Respondent's details

Their name, other names, date of birth, whether they live with you, their address, phone and email. The notes stress that the order cannot be enforced until the respondent has been served or knows about it, which is why an address matters.

Section 4: Your relationship with the respondent

Tick the description that fits (married, formerly married, engaged, living together, partner who does not live with you and so on) and give start and end dates, or choose the family relationship in 4.4. Question 4.5 asks whether there are children to include.

Section 5: Your family

Whether the application is for you alone or for you and your children, the children's names and dates of birth, who has parental responsibility, and any other family court cases between you, such as a child arrangements case or divorce, with the court and case number.

Section 6: Respondent's behaviour

For a non-molestation order. Tick boxes list what you want stopped towards you (for example contacting you directly, coming to your home or workplace, posting about you) and towards your children (for example going to their school or nursery). Question 6.4 is free text for anything else. The detail of specific incidents belongs in your statement, not here.

Section 7: The home

Only for an occupation order. It asks for the address, who lives there now, who has lived or intended to live there, any adaptations for disability, the mortgage or tenancy and lender or landlord, and whether you have home rights. Question 7.17 asks what you want: to stay, to return, to keep the respondent out of the home or the area around it, or to limit which parts they use. Question 7.18 covers payments for rent, mortgage, repairs or furniture. The note to 7.19 asks where you and the children could live otherwise and what hardship you would face. The note to 7.12 says your mortgage lender or landlord must be served with the application.

Section 8: Going to court

Interpreter, adjustments for disability, and special measures: a separate waiting room, separate entrance, a screen in the courtroom, or joining by video. A page after section 8 explains that the court may need form EX740 or EX741 if a hearing with evidence is listed, about whether either of you can be questioned in person by the other. Our page on cross-examination in person and qualified legal representatives explains that.

Statement of truth and what to do next

You sign or type your name under the statement of truth. The last page says how to send everything: by email to your local family court, or by post or in person. If completed by hand, the form asks for 3 copies of each document for a non-molestation order or 4 for an occupation order, though a person without a solicitor only needs to provide one copy.

The supporting witness statement

Rule 10.2 of the Family Procedure Rules, Part 10 says the application must be supported by a witness statement, and a without notice statement must give the reasons notice was not given. The FL401T template is optional but, if you write your own, gov.uk says you must still read its guidance. The template is organised as: introduction; history of the relationship; the most recent incident; the first incident; the worst incident; patterns of abuse or other incidents; the occupation order section (housing needs of each of you and what you are worried about if no order is made); and a closing summary. For each incident it asks for dates, what happened, the impact on you and any children, and who witnessed it or was told. Our witness statement guide covers layout and exhibits.

Without notice applications and the 2026 guidance

The court may make an order without notice where it is "just and convenient" (section 45(1)). If it does, it must give the respondent a chance to be heard at a full hearing as soon as just and convenient (section 45(3)).

The President of the Family Division's Guidance on non-molestation orders came into force on 12 January 2026. In summary, it says:

• a without notice order made on the papers should list a return hearing within no more than 28 days, with the date on the order itself;
• orders should be protective, understandable to both people, proportionate and readily enforceable, and a simplified template order is attached to the guidance;
• an exclusion zone should name roads or a clearly defined area rather than a distance such as "100 metres", and question 6.4 of the FL401 can be used to set out the exclusion you are asking for;
• an order should have a fixed end date on its face;
• the respondent receives a response form with the without notice order, so they can tell the court whether they agree, do not oppose without admissions, or oppose.

The guidance and its annexes are published on the judiciary website. Respondents can read our guide to responding to a non-molestation order.

Service: getting the papers to the respondent

The rules say the application and any order must be served on the respondent personally, and not by you (FPR rules 10.3 and 10.6). Without a solicitor, you can ask the court to serve the papers using form D89, or pay a process server. Whoever serves completes a statement of service on form FL415, which gov.uk now titles "Statement of service" (version 04.26). If a without notice order is made, the respondent is not served with the application beforehand, but the order and your statement must be served afterwards.

Common mistakes

• Writing your address in FL401, the statement or an exhibit after ticking that it must stay confidential.
• Ticking "without notice" without explaining in 1.3 and 1.4 why, using what has happened before.
• No usable address for the respondent, so the order cannot be served.
• Asking for an exclusion zone described only as a distance, instead of naming the roads or area in 6.4.
• Leaving out the mortgage lender or landlord when asking for an occupation order.
• Forgetting the statement of truth on a statement you wrote yourself, or forgetting form D89.
• Trying to hand the papers to the respondent yourself.

What happens next

For an application on notice, the 2026 guidance says the court should list a hearing within 21 days. For a without notice request, the judge may make an order on the papers with a return date, refuse it on the papers and list an on notice hearing, or list a short without notice hearing for you to attend. Hearings about these orders are in private unless the court directs otherwise (FPR 10.5). A copy of a non-molestation order goes to the police (FPR 10.10). Breaking a non-molestation order without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence under section 42A.

Download the form

Download form FL401 and the template statement from gov.uk.

Free help with the application

Legal aid is available for these orders; the Legal Aid Agency waives its upper financial limits for people applying for protection from domestic abuse, though a contribution may be asked for. Check if you can get legal aid on gov.uk. Independent organisations such as Rights of Women (legal advice lines for women) and the Men's Advice Line (for male victims of domestic abuse) can also help; these organisations are independent and do not endorse EvidenceCanvas.

Where EvidenceCanvas fits, and where it does not. EvidenceCanvas does not fill in, sign, file or serve the FL401, the C8 or the D89, and it cannot tell you whether to apply. What it can do is help with the supporting statement: you upload your own documents, confirm the dates it finds, and it drafts a chronology or statement from them for you to check line by line.

Questions people ask

Is there a fee for form FL401?

No. The gov.uk EX50 family fees list shows no fee for non-molestation, occupation order and domestic abuse protection order applications, and no fee for bailiff service of these applications by the applicant.

Do I have to use the FL401T template statement?

No. You can write your own, but gov.uk says you must still read the template's guidance and your statement must end with the statement of truth, signed and dated.

Can I apply without the other person knowing?

You can ask. The court can make an order without notice if it is just and convenient, considering the risk of significant harm, whether you would be deterred from applying, and whether the respondent is avoiding service. The respondent then gets a return hearing.

How do I keep my new address private?

Leave your contact details out of the FL401, your statement and all exhibits, and put them on form C8, sent with the application.

Can I serve the order on the respondent myself?

No. The rules say you must not serve it personally. Use form D89 to ask a court bailiff, or pay a process server; they complete the FL415 statement of service.

Checked on 23 October 2026: gov.uk FL401 page and FL401 (02.23) and FL401T (07.21) PDFs; gov.uk: get an injunction if you've been the victim of domestic abuse; Family Law Act 1996 s.45 and s.42A; FPR Part 10; gov.uk DAPN and DAPO guidance; EX50 family fees; President of the Family Division's Guidance 2026 on non-molestation orders. General information for England and Wales, not legal advice. Your court's directions take priority over this guide.