How Do You Freeze Someone's Assets? Emergency Steps, Freezing Orders (UK, 2026)

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Practitioners should instruct a qualified solicitor before taking any step described below. Last updated: 19 May 2026.

How do you freeze someone’s assets when fraud has been discovered and the defendant is already moving money offshore? In the United Kingdom, the primary tool is the freezing order, formerly known as the Mareva injunction, an interim remedy granted under CPR Part 25 that restrains a party from disposing of or dissipating assets before judgment. The UK Government’s Fraud Strategy 2026–2029 has sharpened the focus on cross-border asset preservation and transparency measures, making effective use of freezing relief more important than ever for claimant counsel and insolvency practitioners.

This guide delivers a practical, stepwise roadmap: the first 24–72 hours of emergency action, the legal tests and evidence the court expects, the application and drafting process, worldwide freezing orders, realistic cost bands, and the key distinctions between civil injunctions and criminal restraint under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

TL;DR, How Do You Freeze Someone’s Assets? The 24–72 Hour Action Plan

Speed is everything. A defendant who suspects litigation is coming will move assets within hours. The checklist below assumes you have just been instructed and suspect imminent dissipation.

0–6 Hours: Preservation and Evidence Capture

1. Secure all existing evidence. Preserve emails, messaging records, bank statements, contracts and any blockchain wallet addresses or transaction hashes. Create forensic copies, do not rely on originals alone.
2. Identify known bank accounts and jurisdictions. Compile account numbers, sort codes, IBANs and the names of institutions. Note any cryptocurrency exchanges or digital-asset custodians.
3. Instruct a forensic accountant. Even a preliminary asset-tracing memo strengthens the application and shows the court that the claim is grounded in evidence rather than speculation.
4. Assess AML red flags. Unusual payment patterns, shell-company structures or recent transfers to high-risk jurisdictions all support a dissipation argument.

6–24 Hours: Ex Parte Filing Preparation

1. Draft the urgent witness statement. This is the centrepiece of any without-notice application. It must demonstrate a real risk of dissipation and set out the underlying cause of action.
2. Prepare a full and frank disclosure schedule. List every material fact, including those that might assist the defendant, because failure to provide full and frank disclosure is one of the most common grounds for discharge.
3. Engage specialist counsel. Freezing injunction requirements demand experienced advocacy; brief counsel with all evidence and a draft order.
4. Request an urgent listing. Contact the relevant court (usually the High Court, Queen’s Bench or Chancery Division) and apply for an urgent hearing, which can often be arranged within hours.

Between 24 and 72 hours, the hearing will typically take place, the order (if granted) will be served on the defendant and notified to banks and third parties, and the return date will be set for the inter partes hearing.

Emergency Steps Before Going to Court, Tactical Checklist and Evidence

Before considering how to apply for a freezing order, claimant counsel must build the evidential foundation. A weak evidence base will not survive judicial scrutiny at the without-notice stage, and a discharged order can expose the applicant to a costs liability on the cross-undertaking in damages.

Asset Mapping Template

Early asset mapping is essential. The following table provides a framework practitioners can adapt to any case.

First 24 Hours Evidence Checklist

Industry observers note that the Fraud Strategy 2026–2029’s emphasis on transparency registers and cross-border intelligence sharing is making it easier to obtain corporate-ownership evidence quickly, a practical advantage when assembling an asset map under time pressure.

Legal Tests and Court Requirements, What to Prove for a Freezing Injunction

The freezing injunction requirements derive from the court’s inherent jurisdiction and are now codified in CPR Part 25.1(1)(f). The principles originate from the landmark decision in Mareva Compania Naviera SA v International Bulkcarriers SA [1975] and have been refined in subsequent authorities. The applicant must satisfy the court on the following elements.

Elements the Court Expects

• A good arguable case on the merits. The claimant need not prove the case at trial standard, but must show more than a merely speculative claim. The court will assess the strength of the underlying cause of action, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy or unjust enrichment, for example.
• A real risk of dissipation. This is the critical threshold. The applicant must produce solid evidence, not mere assertion, that the defendant is likely to move, hide or dispose of assets to frustrate any eventual judgment. Evidence of past dishonesty, unexplained transfers, connections to secrecy jurisdictions, or prior threats to move assets will all support this limb.
• Balance of convenience and justice. The court weighs the harm to the claimant if the order is refused against the harm to the defendant if it is granted.
• Full and frank disclosure. On an ex parte application, the applicant owes a duty to disclose all material facts, including those unfavourable to the application. Breach of this duty is the single most common reason freezing orders are subsequently discharged.
• Cross-undertaking in damages. The applicant must offer an undertaking to compensate the defendant (and affected third parties such as banks) if the order is later found to have been wrongly granted. The court may require security, sometimes in the form of a payment into court or a bond.

Managing Undertakings, Security and Committal Risk

The cross-undertaking is not a formality. If the freezing order is ultimately discharged and the defendant has suffered loss (for example, through frozen trading accounts), the applicant may face a substantial damages inquiry. Practitioners should advise clients on the financial exposure before the application is issued. Where the applicant is an offshore entity or a thinly capitalised SPV, the court is likely to require fortified undertakings backed by cash security.

Common reasons ex parte relief is refused: failure to make full and frank disclosure; insufficient evidence of dissipation (reliance on suspicion rather than hard facts); disproportionate scope of the proposed order; or an inadequate cross-undertaking.

How to Apply for a Freezing Order, Procedural Roadmap and Drafting Checklist

Understanding how to apply for a freezing order means mastering both the procedural rules under the freezing order CPR framework and the practical realities of preparing for an urgent without-notice hearing.

Forms and Paperwork

There is no single mandatory freezing order application form. The application is made under CPR Part 23 (general application procedure) read together with CPR Part 25 and the associated Practice Direction 25A. The applicant must file:

• An application notice (Form N244), clearly marked as urgent and without notice.
• A witness statement or affidavit in support, exhibiting the core evidence.
• A draft order, typically based on the standard-form freezing order annexed to Practice Direction 25A. The standard form is widely regarded as the starting point, and departures from it must be justified.
• A skeleton argument setting out the legal test, the evidence meeting each limb, and the proposed scope.

Application Bundle Template

Draft Order Essentials

The draft order should include: a schedule requiring the defendant to disclose all assets above a specified threshold; clear definitions of restrained assets (bank accounts, real property, shares, crypto assets, vehicles); provision for ordinary living and reasonable legal expenses; a return date (typically within 7–14 days); and, if worldwide relief is sought, an undertaking not to enforce overseas without the court’s permission (known as the Babanaft proviso).

Service and Notification Strategy

Once granted, the order must be served personally on the defendant and notified promptly to every bank, exchange or third party named in it. Banks will freeze the account freezing order upon receipt of a sealed copy. Practitioners should instruct process servers in advance and prepare notification letters to financial institutions drafted in clear terms, attaching the sealed order and highlighting the penal notice.

Worldwide Freezing Orders, When to Seek Extraterritorial Relief

A worldwide freezing order UK extends the restraint to all of the defendant’s assets, wherever situated in the world. Industry observers expect these orders to become more frequent under the Fraud Strategy 2026–2029, which prioritises cross-border cooperation and intelligence sharing.

Practical WFO Evidence Checklist

To obtain a WFO, the applicant must show that domestic assets alone are insufficient to satisfy the likely judgment, and that the defendant holds identifiable assets abroad. Key evidence includes:

• International bank statements or wire-transfer records showing funds held overseas.
• Property searches in foreign land registries or company searches in foreign jurisdictions.
• Blockchain analytics confirming crypto assets on non-UK exchanges.
• A nexus between the foreign assets and the conduct giving rise to the UK proceedings.

Enforcement Issues and Parallel Remedies

A WFO does not automatically bind foreign banks or courts. Enforcement typically requires obtaining a local court order in each relevant jurisdiction, whether through letters of request, registration under bilateral treaties, or fresh applications. Practitioners must weigh the cost and delay of foreign enforcement against the protective value of the order.

Types of Freezing Relief: Account Freezing Orders, Proprietary Injunctions and POCA Restraints

Not every asset freeze follows the same route. Understanding the distinction is critical, particularly when asked whether an account freezing order is civil or criminal.

• Civil freezing injunction (Mareva). Granted by the High Court under CPR Part 25 in civil proceedings. It restrains the defendant personally from dealing with assets. Third parties (banks) comply because of the penal notice.
• Proprietary freezing injunction. Used where the claimant asserts ownership of specific assets (for example, trust funds or misappropriated property). Stronger protection because the assets are treated as belonging to the claimant, not the defendant.
• Account freezing order (POCA). A statutory mechanism under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 that allows law-enforcement agencies to freeze bank accounts suspected of holding criminal proceeds. This is a criminal-law tool, not available to private litigants, and carries different evidential thresholds and procedural rules.
• Bank-initiated freezes. Banks may also freeze accounts independently under their anti-money-laundering obligations when suspicious activity triggers an internal alert or a suspicious activity report (SAR) is filed. These freezes are regulatory rather than court-ordered.

The practical effect is that a civil claimant seeking to freeze an opponent’s assets will almost always use the Mareva injunction route, while POCA restraints remain the province of prosecutors and enforcement agencies.

Freezing Order Costs, Funding and Realistic Expectations

One of the most common questions practitioners face is: how much does a freezing order cost? The honest answer is that freezing order costs vary enormously depending on complexity, the number of respondents, whether worldwide relief is sought, and the urgency of the listing.

Funding options include conditional fee arrangements (CFAs), though rare at the interim-relief stage, after-the-event (ATE) insurance, and third-party litigation funding. The applicant should be aware that costs of the freezing application are typically reserved to the trial judge, meaning they are only recoverable if the underlying claim succeeds.

How to Defend or Challenge a Freezing Order, Quick Practitioner Checklist

Defendants served with a freezing order must act immediately. The penal notice on the order means non-compliance can result in contempt of court and imprisonment.

• Comply with the order pending challenge. Breach risks committal proceedings regardless of whether the order is subsequently set aside.
• Instruct specialist counsel urgently. Prepare evidence for the return date demonstrating: no risk of dissipation; material non-disclosure by the applicant; inadequacy of the cross-undertaking; or disproportionate scope.
• Apply to vary or discharge. Common grounds include failure of full and frank disclosure, absence of a good arguable case, or change of circumstances since the order was granted.
• Provide an asset disclosure affidavit. The order will typically require disclosure of all assets above a threshold. Failure to comply, or providing a false or incomplete disclosure, is itself contempt.
• Consider costs and sanctions. If the order is discharged, the defendant can seek an inquiry into damages on the applicant’s cross-undertaking.

Conclusion

Understanding how do you freeze someone’s assets in the United Kingdom requires mastery of tight timelines, rigorous evidence standards, and the procedural demands of CPR Part 25. The Fraud Strategy 2026–2029 reinforces the importance of acting quickly, preserving evidence, and using every tool available, from domestic freezing injunctions to worldwide freezing orders, to protect claimants against dissipation. Practitioners who combine thorough asset mapping, compelling dissipation evidence, and meticulous compliance with the full-and-frank-disclosure duty will put their clients in the strongest position to secure and maintain interim relief. For complex or multi-jurisdictional cases, early specialist legal advice is essential. Browse the Global Law Experts lawyer directory to connect with civil fraud and asset-recovery specialists across the UK and internationally.

Sources

1. Civil Procedure Rules, Part 25 (Interim Remedies)
2. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA)
3. UK Government, Fraud Strategy 2026–2029
4. Pinsent Masons, Freezing Orders in England and Wales
5. Lexology, Freezing Orders Practice Note
6. BAILII, British and Irish Legal Information Institute
7. LexLaw, Urgent Injunctions and Freezing Orders
8. Longfords Solicitors, Freezing Orders and Injunctions