A restraining order is a court order that protects someone from being physically or sexually abused, threatened, stalked, or harassed. The person getting the restraining order is called the “protected person.” The person the restraining order is against is the “restrained person.” Restraining orders can include other “protected persons” like family or household members of the protected person. Typical court orders include personal conduct, stay away, and residence exclusion orders.
Defending Against Restraining Order
If you have been served with a restraining order, you should immediately contact an attorney regarding your rights. Issuance of a restraining order will go on your criminal record, will prevent the ownership and possession of firearms, and may affect other aspects of your life including having to leave the family home or freedom from visiting certain locations. There are time limits to filing a response to a restraining order. You don’t want to miss those time limits.
Getting A Restraining order against someone
If you are being harassed by a family member, ex-relation, neighbor, or other persons, you may be able to get a restraining order to prohibit the harassing or annoying conduct. There are different types of orders a court can issue to prohibit unwarranted contact or conduct including personal conduct orders, stay away orders, or move out orders.
Civil Harassment Restraining Order
You can ask for a civil harassment restraining order if you are being harassed, stalked, abused, or threatened by someone like a neighbor, roommate, or distant family members like cousins, aunts or uncles, or nieces or nephews.
Domestic Violence Restraining Order
Domestic violence restraining orders will be issued if someone has abused you, and you have a close relationship with that person including being married or registered domestic partners, divorced, separated, dating or used to date, have a child together, or live together or used to live together, or you are closely related like a parent, child, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, in-law.
Elder or Dependent Adult Abuse Restraining Order
Elder or dependent adult abuse restraining orders will be issued if you are 65 or older, or you are between 18 and 64 and have mental or physical disabilities that keep you from being able to protect yourself and you are a victim of physical or financial abuse, neglect or abandonment, treatment that has physically or mentally hurt you, or deprivation by a caregiver of basic things or services you need so you will not suffer physically, mentally, or emotionally.
Workplace Violence Restraining Order
You can ask for a workplace violence restraining order if you are an employer, and you seek to protect an employee who has suffered stalking, serious harassment, violence, or a credible threat of violence at the workplace.
Restraining Order Hearings
At some point in time in the process, there will be a contested hearing where a judge will decide who will prevail. Whether you are defending or prosecuting a restraining order you must be prepared to present the evidence necessary to win. This includes documentary evidence, police reports, pictures, test messages, social media posts, audio recordings, video clips, and witness testimony. There are rules of evidence that apply at the hearing. That is why hiring an attorney will give you the best chance of winning. Winning is often based on the party that presents the most credible admissible evidence.
Personal conduct orders
Are orders to stop specific acts against “protected persons” listed in the restraining order. Conduct that can be prohibited includes contacting, calling, or sending any messages (including e-mail), attacking, striking, or battering, stalking, threatening, sexually assaulting, harassing, destroying personal property, or disturbing the peace of the protected people.
Stay-away orders
Are orders to keep the restrained person a certain distance away from the protected person or the protected person’s home, work, vehicle, children’s schools or places of child care; or other important places.
Residence exclusion orders
Are orders telling the restrained person to move out from where the protected person lives. These orders can only be asked for in domestic violence or elder or dependent adult abuse restraining order cases.
Consequences of a Restraining Order
For a restrained person, having a restraining order against you can have very serious consequences including not being able to go to certain places or to do certain things, may have to move from home, may not be able to see children, not be able to own a gun, and may affect immigration status.
Violating a Restraining order
If the restrained person violates the restraining order, they may go to jail, or pay a fine, or both.
Settlement Options
In every case there is a legal preference by the court for the parties to work out a settlement agreement prior to trial. Sometimes it is possible when the parties have a mutual interest to resolve the issues without litigation and sometimes a resolution can’t be worked out because of the serious nature of the offenses or because one of the parties is unwilling to work out a settlement agreement.
You don’t have to Represent yourself
Because of the many legal issues in a restraining order case, it is always best to have an attorney handle the case. Our experienced and aggressive efforts usually result in a successful outcome in your case. Call our office today at (916) 939-3900 for a free case evaluation and what we can do for you.