Getting an Injunction Against a Family Member

If a family member is abusive to you and/or your children, you may be able to get an injunction to protect you from them.

Our family lawyers can help and support you if you are experiencing domestic abuse by a family member. There are two types of injunction we can help with:

• Non-molestation order – prevents someone from doing certain things such as threatening you or harassing you
• Occupation order – prevents someone from living in your shared home or entering your home or certain rooms in your home

Domestic abuse comes in all forms, and injunctions can protect you (and your children if you have any) whether the abuse is physical, verbal, emotional, financial or coercive control.

We can seek your injunction with a power of arrest attached, which means if your family member breaches the injunction, you can call the police to have them arrested.

We can also help you seek an emergency injunction if you need protection straight away.

You will usually be eligible for family legal aid for domestic abuse injunction proceedings which can pay for some or all of your legal costs. We can provide advice about getting legal aid.

Speak to our family lawyers in Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taff

We have offices across Rhondda Cynon Taff in Bridgend, Caerphilly, Church Village, Pontypridd, Talbot Green, Tonypandy, Treorchy and Tylorstown, where you can come and meet us to discuss your matter. We’re also happy to speak to you in any way convenient to you, including using video link software.

So, for advice about getting an injunction against a family member, then please get in touch with us today for compassionate advice for you and your family.

Why choose Devonalds for family injunction advice?

It’s a scary but brave thing to protect yourself from an abusive family situation. Nobody, not even a relative, has the right to hurt you or make you feel scared in your own home, and there is legal support you can seek to help you prevent further abuse.

Our team of friendly, welcoming solicitors help people solve their family problems. We understand just how daunting it can feel to take legal action against your family, but we’ll be by your side every step of the way.

We’ll provide simple, straightforward advice about your options, which could include obtaining an injunction to protect you from certain behaviour or to prevent certain people from coming near you or your home.

If you have children, we’ll make sure their welfare and best interests are also at the heart of our advice. We are children law specialists and have been accredited by the Law Society for our expertise. As well as seeking injunctions, we can provide other advice to keep your children safe, including:

• Taking steps to prevent abusive ex-partners from seeing your children
• Representing you if your children’s grandparents are taking legal action to try to spend time with your children

Visit our Arrangements for Children page for general information.

Confidential advice

When you get in touch with us, we’ll take your privacy and confidentiality extremely seriously.

We will make sure that we agree how we will communicate going forwards, and we’ll agree to do whatever is the most convenient and safest option for you. For example, you may want to just communicate via email, in which case we will only ever email you and never call.

We’ll never discuss what you tell us with anyone else unless you give us express permission. For example, to obtain an injunction, we’d need to tell the court why you need one, and if you are successful, the person it is against will be notified.

Emergency injunctions

If you need immediate protection from a family member and/or need to obtain an injunction without your family member being notified, we can provide advice.

Get in touch with us straight away, and we’ll let you know how we can help.

How can our friendly family injunction solicitors help?

Non-molestation orders

A non-molestation order, or civil injunction, is a court order that can protect you (and your children if you have any) from domestic violence or abuse.

The order can prevent your family member from threatening violence against you or your children and prevent them from doing other things such as harassing you (for example, endlessly calling you or following you) or coming near you or your home.

The non-molestation order document will say exactly what your family member is forbidden from doing. We will listen closely to you about your circumstances and the impact on you, then provide simple, sensitive and personalised advice about how an injunction could help. We will draft the court documents on your behalf, ensuring that we ask for the injunction to cover everything you need it to and file it at court.

We will also represent you during court hearings. We know that this can be a stressful time, but as well as being your legal advisors, we will be there for emotional support to reduce the stress of the situation as much as possible.

Occupation orders

An occupation order can help you feel safer in your own home. The order will say who is allowed to live in the family home or come near your home.

You don’t have to own your home to get an occupation order; you may be able to get one if you rent or just live in your home with your family member.

Our family injunction solicitors can provide advice about how to get an occupation order and help you make your application. We can also represent you during court hearings, providing emotional support to try to make this difficult time as straightforward as possible for you.

How to get an injunction

To get an injunction – either a non-molestation order or an occupation order – you need to make an application to court.

You need to have been a victim of domestic abuse (any kind of domestic abuse, from physical abuse to coercive control), and the order needs to be against a family member, partner or ex-partner.

The first step to take is to contact a solicitor who specialises in domestic abuse (such as ourselves). They will be best placed to explain exactly what you need to do and can handle the process for you.

For injunction proceedings, you will likely be eligible for legal aid, although you may need to provide evidence to show that you or your children were or are at risk of harm. We can provide advice about obtaining evidence and help you get legal aid to pay for some or all of your legal costs.

You will need to go to a court hearing to obtain your injunction. However, we can provide advice about seeking an emergency order which can be obtained ‘without notice’. This means that your family member won’t be notified about the injunction until you have received it. There will then usually be another hearing which your family member will be allowed to attend.

We can come with you to your court hearings to present your case and make sure that you have the best possible chance of getting an injunction.

Once an injunction is made, it will usually have a power of arrest attached. This means if your family member breaches the injunction, you can call the police to have them arrested.

Speak to our injunction solicitors in Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taff

We have offices across Rhondda Cynon Taff in Bridgend, Caerphilly, Church Village, Pontypridd, Talbot Green, Tonypandy, Treorchy and Tylorstown, where you can come and meet us to discuss your matter. We’re also happy to speak to you in any way convenient to you, including using video link software.

So, for advice about getting an injunction against a family member, then please get in touch with us today for compassionate advice for you and your family.