Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Keep Away: How Restraining Orders Work in California

Restraining orders are court orders that protect individuals from physical or sexual abuse. This abuse can include contacting, attacking, threatening, stalking, sexually assaulting, harassing, or sending messages. The orders can protect a single “protected person” or can include others, such as the person’s family members or coworkers. The process can be tricky, so hiring a lawyer to assist you with a restraining order can be helpful.

The person to be restrained may have various stipulations with which to comply. The person may not be able to see children, may not be able to move houses, may not be able to go to certain locations and may not be able to buy a gun. It can also affect immigration status when applying for visas and the like. The consequences for violating a restraining order are severe, including paying a fine, jail time, or both.

There are several different types of restraining orders. A domestic violence restraining order may be filed if someone abuses you and you have had a close relationship with him or her in the past or present. Your relationship may be that of domestic partners, divorced or separated, dating or once dated, cohabitate or used to cohabitate or you have a child together. You can also apply for a domestic violence restraining order if you are closely related to the person, whether sibling, parent or grandparent.

If the person stalking, harassing or abusing you does not fit under the domestic violence category, you can ask for a civil harassment restraining order. These relationships would include non-sexual roommates, neighbors and extended family like aunts, uncles or cousins. Sometimes the person harassing you might be a fellow employee where you work. You’d file a civil harassment restraining order in this case. If you’re an employer, you can file a workplace violence restraining order on the behalf of one of your employees, but they can only fill out the civil harassment order.

The final type of restraining order available in California is an elder or dependent adult abuse restraining order. If an individual is 65 or older or is between 18 and 64 but have mental or physical disabilities that stop you from protecting yourself or performing normal activities, you may ask for this type of order. To qualify, you must have been victimized by physical harm, financial abuse, abandonment, harmful physical or mental treatment, or been deprived of basic necessities by a caregiver. This order is to restrain and prevent malicious individuals from preying on the elderly or disabled.

To find out more about employing a restraining order attorney in San Diego, visit this website.

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