Property Injunctions

All the following injunctions have to be applied for in the High Court and may require you to promise the court you will pay your opponent's costs if it turns out you did not have a good reason to apply or you eventually lose your case.

Most of these kind of injunctions will have what is called a "Penal Notice". This warns your opponent that if they break the order they could be sent to prison.

Freezing Injunction

If your opponent is about to get rid of valuable property or money, so that you cannot make a claim against them, you can apply to the court to stop them. This is called a "Freezing Injunction".

An application is made in the High Court for the injunction. (In family cases an application can be made in the County Court, but the court can decide to transfer it to the High Court.)

You can ask the court to make an emergency order preventing your opponent transferring, getting rid of or passing the property to someone else and for them to reveal where they have got rid of any property or money.

However, you have to give a promise to the court that you will pay your opponent's costs if you eventually lose your case or if there was not a good reason for asking the court to give the injunction.

Copies of the injunction can be sent to your opponent's bank or building society to stop your opponent getting rid of his property or money. However, your opponent will be allowed to withdraw money for his or her living expenses.

Search Orders

You may be able to obtain an injunction to allow you to get into your opponent's home or workplace to search it and take documents which might be important to your case.

You apply in the High Court and make your application in secret without your opponent knowing. These orders are difficult to get and will only be given in very important cases and where there is definite proof that important evidence will be found at your opponent's home or workplace. Once you get the order it must be personally served on your opponent.

The order does not allow you to force your way into your opponent's home or workplace. If your opponent refuses to allow you in then you have to go back to court and apply for their committal to prison.
See Committal

Stop opponent leaving the country

You can also apply for another type of injunction to stop your opponent leaving the country until he pays some money into the court to ensure that he will return.

You can only apply for this kind of order if your opponent owes money and the amount is more than £50.00.

An order can also be made that your opponent's passport be taken away from him/her so that they do not leave the country. Such orders are usually made together with Freezing Injunctions.

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