How to Get a Restraining Order and Why It is Required?

In order to make an informed decision about whether or not to file for an order of protection against someone, you must first understand how the court system operates and what a restraining order provides for you. A variety of restraining orders are available for a variety of reasons. You may have various legal alternatives depending on whether you’re dealing with unsolicited correspondence or domestic violence or abuse. An overview of the restraining orders available is provided in this useful guide, which includes information on how to get them.

How to get a restraining order? Restraining orders may be obtained without the assistance of a lawyer. However, attorneys can only assist you if the restraining order is an integral component of a broader divorce action, or if you need legal counsel for a DVOP hearing.

What Is A Restraining Order?

Restraining orders are court orders that ban people from contacting or approaching one another for short periods of time. Civil Restraining Orders and Protection Orders are the two main types of restraining orders. Domestic abuse is the primary focus of protection orders. An emergency protection order might be issued by the courts if you or the police seek it. If you’ve called the police to report a case of domestic abuse, you may generally do this once they arrive on the scene (although not necessary).

Emergency orders may be obtained without a hearing or the abuser’s awareness, but they only endure until you get a hearing for a more permanent domestic order in court. A temporary protection order (TPO), like an emergency order, may be given without the abuser being aware of it and without a hearing. The other party will be advised of the future hearing within 10 days of the order being issued. You will have to file for a TPO on your own, unlike an emergency order. Only after the hearing in which both parties may submit facts and testimony can a permanent order of protection be given. They may endure for months or years, and can be renewed if necessary.

Restraining Order: When Can I Get It?

If police enforcement is summoned to a scene, they may ask for an emergency order of protection, as stated above. You will be required to wait until the following business day if you live in a remote county that does not provide this service. If a court believes that you or your kid are in immediate risk of domestic violence after a reported incidence of domestic abuse, they are more likely to issue an emergency order.

If you put out an affidavit or petition explaining why you need protection, the court may award you a temporary protection order, or TPO. If a court has reason to suspect that domestic violence has occurred, he or she may award a TPO. Within 10 days of obtaining the order, the court will almost certainly schedule a hearing to address the accusations in your petition and determine whether or not a permanent domestic order needs to be issued.

If both parties can present their side of the story in court, the judge may issue a permanent order of protection. It is possible for a court to permit this order to endure for months or even years, depending on the circumstances of the case and the children involved. After a permanent order of protection expires, more injunctions may be obtained and remain in force.

To get a mutual order of protection, the court must believe that both parties were aggressive and not acting in self-defense at the time of the incident.

Restraining Order: How to Get it?

It is possible to get restraining orders to keep one spouse from acting badly during the divorce proceedings, as well as to protect other members of the family from domestic violence. To get a restraining order, you may follow these procedures.

Step 1: Get to Safety First

If you’re in an abusive relationship and want a divorce, get a secure place to stay. Make sure your spouse doesn’t know where you’ll be going, whether it’s a friend, family member, or workplace. There are a number of services in the region that may assist you if you need them.

Step 2: File a Petition

To get a protection order, you may travel to the local courthouse and submit a petition, or you can get the documents online. By virtue of being connected to the abuser, you are entitled to a domestic violence order if your family member is being harmed. When a court grants an injunction, it will be served on the other party, and they will have to comply with it. You must be able to verify your connection to the person you want confining, as well as the abuse or violence that has been perpetrated against you, in situations of domestic violence. In order to prove your case, you should photograph any apparent signs or bruising. A person’s medical and police records may be presented as evidence in court if necessary. If someone you know observed you being abused, they might testify on your side.

Obtaining an order of protection does not incur a charge. An ex parte order allows you to speak with a court as quickly as possible about your reasons for requesting a restraining order. There is no need that your spouse be there, and the order is only in effect until a hearing can be scheduled.

Step 3: Let the Order Served

Ex parte orders, however, do not take effect until they are served on the party they are intended to affect. A sheriff’s deputy is generally assigned by the court to serve the opposite party. On the day of your hearing, you have the option of requesting a permanent order. As a citizen, you are entitled to be told when the order is duly served, but you must inform the court clerk in advance.

Step 4: Be Prepared for Your Hearing

In most cases, the hearing will be held within a few weeks of when the petition was submitted. You may wish to prepare by retaining the services of an experienced family law attorney. When you employ a neutral third party, the abuser will not be able to frighten you. Additionally, you’ll want to collect evidence of the abuse and witnesses who may testify on your side.

Step 5: Attend the Hearing

Arrive at least 30 minutes early for your hearing. Without your presence, the court will reject your petition, and the interim order will remain in effect. You may be granted a complete order if your abuser does not show up, or the court may schedule another hearing and prolong your ex parte hearing at a later date.

The judge will hear your tale, and you will have the chance to share it with him or her. The norms of civil process and evidence will still apply to this hearing, which is official. It’s in your best interest to be represented by an attorney at this hearing since it is a formal one. Even if your spouse is a liar, don’t yell or interrupt him or her in the courtroom. People under restraining orders might be questioned by you or your lawyer.

Step 6: Receive the Permanent Order

Assuming all goes according to plan, the court will rule that your request for an order is justified. Even if you don’t qualify for spousal support or child custody, an ex parte order may provide you with the legal security you need to proceed with your case. The person may also be ordered by the judge to pay for your legal expenses or court costs, as well as any medical expenditures that were caused by their abuse. Anywhere from 180 days up to a year is possible with such an order. Even if the individual who is being restrained does not protest and asks for a hearing 30 days before the order is due to end, the court may grant an automatic renewal. Motions for renewal are required if there is not an automatic renewal. The judge will then convene a hearing to assess whether or not it is essential for you to renew.

Civil Restraining Orders

A civil restraining order may be obtained by victims of non-domestic violence or harassment. A civil restraining order may be issued by the court if it is determined that the person’s conduct is likely to cause long-term damage if it is not halted. You can apply for the restraining order if there is anyone who has “caused you serious harm or threatened you with harm that is likely to continue/cause you an irreparable injury” if not stopped. You may get a civil restraining order against practically anybody, even if you don’t live with them. However, you must pay a filing cost of $132.00.

How Does the Restraining Order Protect Me?

Police may issue an emergency order of protection to prevent the abuser from harming you or anyone in your family again, to prevent the abuser from approaching you in any manner, or to grant you interim custody of your children while they investigate the situation.

Forbidding the abuser from approaching you in any manner (unless via your attorney, if you have one) and from abusing you or your family members is one of the many possible outcomes of a temporary protective order. You and the petitioner must not relocate out of state or disenroll your children from school while this temporary order is in force; you must also not allow your children to be in touch with their abusers; and you must not remove your kids from the state while this temporary order is in effect. Order the person to leave the house and provide law enforcement the keys to the home or enable law enforcement to accompany you if you are leaving the home; and award child support and interim support for you when appropriate.

Prevent the abuser from committing any further acts of abuse or threatening to do any more acts of abuse; ban the abuser from communicating with you in any form; and forbid the abuser from contacting you at all. abuser must allow you to reclaim your items from the house you live with him or her; decide visitation rights, child support, and interim support for you; and ban the abuser from concealing, throwing away, or giving away your belongings. The abuser should be ordered to pay for any and all domestic abuse-related expenditures such as medical and counseling, the repair or replacement of your damaged property, lost income, and the cost of temporary housing; you may be ordered by the court, as well as your abuser, to attend counseling sessions; your abuser may be thrown out of your home, or the abuser may be ordered to provide you with a temporary residence; your abuser may be ordered to surrender any guns he or she owns, or the court may prohibit him or her from purchasing any guns.

It all depends on the circumstances of your case whether or not a court mandates any of the following.

It’s possible to contact a local law enforcement official to assist in reclaiming your home from the abuser if your protection order mandates their removal from the place of residence you share with them.

Conclusion

This was all about what a restraining order is and how to get a restraining order. If you ever happen to become a victim of domestic abuse, you can seek the court for a restraining order to serve as your protection.