You may or may not need a restraining order throughout your life. However, you should know its essential aspects in case you ever need one. Given that people apply for such orders when they think their life may be in danger, you shouldn’t waste any time discovering restraining orders when instead you need one in place as soon as possible.

Naturally, if you think you’re in danger – because of one crazy ex or a person that wants to hurt you, you should contact a restraining orders attorney and have them help you fill out the form and get yourself protected.

If you want to know more about such orders and how they work, then keep on reading this article!

The Use of Restraining Orders

A restraining order is released by a court and is meant to keep people safe from those that abuse them or have abused them in the past. It keeps the aggressor away from you, thus preventing harassment or abuse.

The Basics of Restraining Orders

First, it is worth mentioning that restraining orders are civil in nature. As such, the abuser won’t face a criminal record if they are named on such an order. 

Likewise, any victims of domestic abuse can request a restraining order to protect them – from a house member or spouse, no matter if they live or not anymore in their home. 

What Acts are Seen as Domestic Violence?

By definition, the victim can request such an order if they’ve been injured by the abuser via harassment, stalking, false imprisonment, for example (but not limited to) – all of these are of criminal nature, which is why they can be named in a restraining order.

The Effect of Restraining Orders

When a restraining order is set and enforced, an abuser must obey the court’s orders. Naturally, this limits what they can and cannot do in relation to the victim. For example:

• The victim has the right to decide whether the abuser is allowed to contact them or not or limit the ways through which they can be contacted. Depending on the victim’s requests, the abuser may be forbidden to contact them in any way possible. By extension, such an order can protect members of the victim’s family as well.
• Then, if the victim is living with the abuser, the latter may be required to leave, even though the home is in their name.
• In case the victim has minor children, they may be granted custody in case the abuser is removed from the household. On top of that, the abuser may also be forced to pay child and spousal support – and respect a visitation schedule. 

The Bottom Line

In short, a restraining order is meant to protect victims of abuse and punish abusers – as some states may request the latter to attend special counseling. On top of that, it is viable country-wide, meaning that the authorities of every state must enforce it.

Basically, with such an order in place, you’ll never have to see the one that abused you and might abuse you ever again – unless they break the order and have a high chance of going to jail.