Areas of Practice

Family Law | Domestic Violence

By definition, the spouses are in direct conflict and they have often separated prior to the domestic violence. Courts can issue an Order of Protection and in assistance or as a condition of an Order for Support under the appropriate terms and conditions.

A court may make an Order of Protection such as barring a spouse or a parent from his or her home and family and it may be entered for any reason. A temporary Order of Protection until the next court date can be issued based upon a complaint of assault or harassment against a person. The law does not expressly require a hearing before the issuance of an Order of Protection, although one is customarily held and an Order issued in the absence of a hearing may be reversible.

The conditions included in an Order of Protection must be reasonable. A major criteria of the reasonableness of conditions imposed is whether they are likely to be helpful in eradicating the root of the family disturbance. The court may frame, often at the suggestion of counsel, any reasonable condition.

The duration of the Order of Protection may be extremely lengthy.

Examples of the various conditions that could be contained in an Order of Protection are as follows:

  1. To stay away from the home, school, business or place of employment of any other party, the other spouse, the other parent or the child and to stay away from any other specific location designated by the court.
  2. To permit a parent or a person entitled to visitation by a court order or a separation agreement, to visit the child at stated periods.
  3. To refrain from committing a family offense or any criminal offense against a child or against the other parent or against any person and to refrain from harassing, intimidating or threatening such persons.
  4. To permit a designated party to enter the residence during a specified period of time in order to remove personal belongings not an issue in the particular case.
  5. To refrain acts of commission or omission that create an unreasonable risk to the health, safety or welfare of a child.
  6. To participate in an educational program and to pay the cost thereof if the person has means to do so.
  7. To provide either directly or by means of medical and health insurance for expenses incurred for medical care and treatment arising from the incident or incidents forming the basis for the issuance of the order.
  8. To refrain intentionally injuring or telling without justification any companion animal.

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