Last amended by Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 in 2014. Inserted s.63CA, making breach of a forced marriage protection order a criminal offence (alongside the new offence of forced marriage itself in s.121 of the 2014 Act).
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Summary
The Family Law Act 1996 is the principal statute providing civil remedies against domestic abuse in England & Wales. Its operative core is Part IV (Family Homes and Domestic Violence), which provides non-molestation orders, occupation orders regulating occupation of the family home, and 'home rights' for spouses and civil partners without a legal estate, and Part 4A (inserted in 2007), which provides forced marriage protection orders. Part II — an ambitious 'no-fault divorce' scheme based on marital breakdown statements and periods of reflection — was never brought into force and was repealed (except for s.22 on funding for marriage support) by the Children and Families Act 2014; no-fault divorce was eventually delivered by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 amending the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 instead.
Key Points
- Home rights: a spouse or civil partner with no estate in the dwelling-house has a right not to be evicted or excluded, registrable as a charge (ss.30–32)
- Occupation orders for applicants with an estate, interest or home rights (s.33), including power to exclude the respondent from the home and a defined area around it
- Occupation orders for non-entitled former spouses/civil partners (s.35) and cohabitants or former cohabitants (s.36), with additional considerations in s.41
- Non-molestation orders protecting 'associated persons' and relevant children (s.42) — 'molestation' is deliberately undefined and covers a broad spectrum of conduct
- Breach of a non-molestation order without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence carrying up to 5 years' imprisonment (s.42A, inserted by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004)
- Ex parte (without notice) orders (s.45) and undertakings in place of orders (s.46)
- Wide definition of 'associated persons' (s.62): spouses, civil partners, cohabitants, relatives, parties to the same family proceedings, and others
- Forced marriage protection orders (Part 4A, ss.63A–63S); breach is a criminal offence carrying up to 5 years' imprisonment (s.63CA)
- Part II's divorce-reform scheme (ss.2–25) was never commenced and was repealed, except s.22, in 2014
Amendments History
2004 — Civil Partnership Act 2004
Extended Part IV to civil partners and renamed 'matrimonial home rights' as 'home rights'.
2004 — Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
Inserted s.42A, criminalising breach of a non-molestation order (up to 5 years' imprisonment), and widened Part IV eligibility, including for same-sex cohabitants and couples who have never cohabited.
2007 — Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007
Inserted Part 4A (ss.63A–63S), creating forced marriage protection orders.
2014 — Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
Inserted s.63CA, making breach of a forced marriage protection order a criminal offence (alongside the new offence of forced marriage itself in s.121 of the 2014 Act).
2014 — Children and Families Act 2014
Repealed Part II (the never-implemented divorce reform scheme) except for s.22, with effect from 13 May 2014 (ss.18(1), 139(4)).