What Can I Request in my Restraining Order?
If you have been a victim of domestic violence you can protect yourself by seeking a Temporary Restraining Order against the person who is abusing you. To file a domestic violence complaint, you do have to meet certain requirements. First, you must be over the age of eighteen (18). Next, you must have a family relationship with your abuser. This may be that you are or were in a relationship with them. This may be that you do or did live with them. Finally, you can seek a TRO in a county that you live in, that your abuser lives in, or where the abuse occurred.
When you are filing for a Temporary Restraining Order, you can ask that the Judge order certain restrictions or requirements of the other person. This may be very important for your case, since there may be a gap in time between when the TRO is issued and when the FRO is issued. You want to make sure that you are protected during this time, not just physically, but financially. Certain requests the Court may not decide as part of a Temporary Restraining Order but may decide at the Final Restraining Order trial. It is important to ask when you are applying for a TRO, though, since if you do not request it at that time, the Judge may not be able to grant the request at the FRO trial.
As part of your application for a TRO, you can ask that the Defendant, your abuser, be prohibited from coming to your home. You can also ask that they be prohibited from coming to your workplace. If there are other people in your home or other individuals that the Defendant has tried to contact in an effort to abuse you, you can ask that the Defendant be prohibited from contacting them, as well.
If you share children with the Defendant, you may ask that the Judge award temporary custody and order a parenting time schedule for you and the Defendant. If you already have a custody order, you can ask that this be modified temporarily to protect your children. Likewise, in such a situation, you can also ask that the Defendant pay appropriate child support. You will need to provide the Judge with information about your income and the Defendant’s income, if you know. If you are married to the Defendant, you can ask that they pay support for you. Like child support, you will need to provide the Court with information about each of your incomes.
The Court is also able to order the Defendant be required to pay certain expenses. For example, if you share a home, you can ask that they be required to pay or contribute toward the mortgage. Again, you should have information about these expenses if you intend to ask the Judge to grant your request.
You are also able to request compensation for certain losses that you suffered as a result of Defendant’s abuse. This may include earnings you have lost, medical costs for treatment you have sought due to Defendant’s abuse, the cost to repair or replace property that Defendant damaged, the cost of changing locks at your home, the cost of counseling for you, the cost of moving or traveling to be safe from Defendant, reasonable attorney’s fees, and compensation for pain and suffering. It is even possible that the Court order punitive damages.
There are many other areas of relief that the Court may be able to Order in your case, if appropriate. However, you do need to make sure that you request the relief that you need. We can help. Please call our office today to set up a consultation to discuss how we may help in seeking what you need as part of your Temporary Restraining Order or amending a “TRO” to include additional requests, where appropriate.