FL415 Statement of Service: Who Signs It and When

Part of: Non Molestation Order

Form FL415 is the statement of service you file to show the court that the other person received the papers in a protection order case. It records who received them and how the server knew it was them. It also records when, where and how the handover happened. You need it for a non-molestation order or an occupation order under the Family Law Act 1996, once the papers reach the respondent. The person who served them signs it. For the application and the order, that cannot be you, because the court rules forbid you from serving them yourself. It forms part of our guide to the non-molestation order and covers the law in England and Wales.

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What is form FL415?

It is the court form that proves service in a case about an order to protect you. GOV.UK lists it as a certificate of service for an order to protect you, covering non-molestation orders, occupation orders, forced marriage protection orders and female genital mutilation protection orders.

The current version carries the code 04.26 in its footer and runs to three pages. The rules use two names for it. Rule 10.3(4) of the Family Procedure Rules calls it a certificate of service, while rule 10.10(2) describes a statement showing that the respondent has the order or knows its terms. Both describe the same signed record of who received which papers, and when. You file it once the papers reach the respondent. It does not go in with your form FL401 application.

Who fills in the FL415 statement of service?

The person who handed the papers to the respondent fills it in and signs it. That is usually a court bailiff, a process server or someone your lawyer instructs, because you must not serve the application or the order yourself (FPR r.10.3(1A) and r.10.6(1A)).

The signature page offers five roles: process server, court bailiff, the applicant’s lawyer, the applicant, and other. Tick the applicant box only for a step the rules let you take yourself. In most occupation order cases, for example, you must also serve a copy of the application on any mortgage lender or landlord of the home (r.10.3(3)). You can do that by first class post (r.6.23). Serving the application or the order in person is never one of those steps.

If you are handling the case without a lawyer, you can ask the court to serve the application (r.10.3(2)), and it must serve the order when you ask (r.10.6(2)). You request a court bailiff on form D89, and the notes printed on the statement of service say a court official does this for free. Our non-molestation order guide compares the ways to get the papers to the respondent.

What goes in each box of the FL415 form?

The form asks for the case details and the name and address of the person served. It then asks how the server identified them, how, when and where the handover happened, and which court forms they received. Its notes add two details: the date, time and place of posting for anything sent by post, and the date and time of sending for anything sent by email, text or social media.

If a document went to the respondent’s lawyer, the form asks for that lawyer’s name and address. “Served at the address” says far less than a time, a place and how the server knew they had the right person.

When do you file the statement of service?

File it with the court on or before the first directions appointment or hearing, as the FL415 form itself instructs. For an application made on notice, the papers must reach the respondent in person at least 2 days before the hearing, unless the court sets a different period (FPR r.10.3(1)).

An order follows its own clock. Once the judge makes it, the applicant must serve it on the respondent personally as soon as reasonably practicable (r.10.6(1)). If the judge made it without notice, the application and your witness statement go with it, and GOV.UK’s hearing guide repeats the warning not to serve it yourself.

Fill in an outline of your FL415 statement of service

Three facts decide who signs your statement, what it records and where it goes next. Answer each question and the outline below fills in, one line at a time.

Why do the police need the statement of service?

The police need proof that the respondent knows about the order, and the statement gives them that proof. For a non-molestation order, or an occupation order with a power of arrest, a copy of the order goes to the police station for your address, or to the one the order names, with a statement that the respondent has the order or knows its terms (FPR r.10.10).

Who takes them there depends on who served the order. The rule gives that job to the court officer when the court did the serving, and to you in every other case (r.10.10(3)). GOV.UK's guide says the court sends the order and the statement of service to the police, so ask the court office which applies to you.

Breaking a non-molestation order without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence in its own right (Family Law Act 1996, s.42A(1)). On conviction in the Crown Court, the maximum sentence is five years' imprisonment (s.42A(5)). For an order made without notice, only conduct after the respondent became aware of the order counts (s.42A(2)). So the date and time on the FL415 can decide whether a message sent that afternoon is an offence.

A non-molestation order carries no power of arrest. Since 1 July 2007, the court can attach a power of arrest only to an occupation order (s.47(2) and (3)). When someone breaks a non-molestation order, the police can treat it as the section 42A offence, and you can also ask the court for a warrant for their arrest (s.47(8)). Our guide to arrest after a breach explains what happens next. The penal notice guide covers the warning printed on the front of many orders.

What if you cannot find the respondent, or they avoid the papers?

Tell the court before the hearing, and never sign or file a statement for papers nobody handed over. The court can allow service by another method or at another place (FPR r.6.35), and it can also dispense with service (r.6.36).

Both rules apply to protection cases, because rules 10.3 and 10.6 are expressly subject to them. If the judge lets you serve by email, text or a messaging app, you still complete the same form. Its notes then ask for the date and time of sending, instead of where the handover happened. Our form D89 guide sets out the other routes when a bailiff cannot serve.

FL415: frequently asked questions

General information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your circumstances.