Walk It Through: The Protective Order
A shove in the kitchen, an emergency order that night, a hearing within ten days, and a text that breaks it.
After a boyfriend shoves her into a counter and threatens worse, a woman goes to the magistrate court that night.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One dating relationship. Custody and support in the order, a respondent who is a minor, the firearm surrender process and a counter petition are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Domestic batteryUnlawfully and intentionally making insulting or provoking physical contact with, or causing physical harm to, a family or household member.
- Domestic violenceBetween family or household members, causing or attempting physical harm, placing someone in reasonable fear of it, creating fear through harassment, stalking or threats, sexual assault, or holding someone against their will.
- Emergency protective orderAn order a magistrate may enter on a verified petition, without notice on clear and convincing evidence of immediate and present danger, that bars the respondent from having firearms until the family court's final hearing.
- Family or household memberSpouses and former spouses, people who live or lived together, intimate or dating partners, people with a child in common, and a list of relatives by blood and marriage.