Everything You Need To Know About Temporary Restraining Orders
Did your wife file for divorce and serve you with a temporary restraining order? Do you need to know how a temporary restraining order affects a Dallas divorce case? A temporary restraining order is a court order that tells both you and your wife what you can do and what you cannot do while the case is active. Restraining orders set the ground rules for how a divorce case will move through the court system. For example, a temporary restraining order can prohibit you from going home. It can order that you take a drug test. The good news is that temporary means that the restraining order will only last for a short period of time. If the temporary restraining order is brand new, the orders will usually last for a couple of weeks. They will usually contain a court date where you must appear. Fortunately, you will be able to tell your side of the story. Once a judge decides, the temporary restraining order can continue for the life of the case. In some rare cases, temporary restraining orders can become permanent in the divorce decree.
The Three Different Types Of Temporary Restraining Orders
Texas has three types of restraining orders commonly used in divorce. As a general rule, the type of restraining order filed by your wife, determines the severity of how the temporary restraining order affects a Dallas Divorce case. Restraining orders can rank from the more benign to nuclear:
1) The automatic temporary restraining order that is issued in most cases
2) The temporary restraining order regarding physical contact or communication
3) The domestic violence protective order
Automatic Restraining Orders
1) When a person files for divorce, the county issues an automatic restraining order. Courts issue these type of orders regardless of whether or not a person requests them. The goal of automatic restraining orders are to preserve the status quo. These type restraining orders can vary widely by county. Check the order carefully. Automatic restraining orders can prevent people from taking some sort of punitive action like trying to destroy evidence. They may also contain restrictions which prohibit you from deleting social medial posts or prohibit depleting a bank account.
Temporary Restraining Orders
2) Temporary restraining orders can vary in scope, severity and degree. In some cases, temporary restraining orders are simply buffed up automatic restraining orders. On the other hand, temporary restraining orders can be just as restrictive as a domestic violence protective order. These types of orders run the gamut. These orders can vary from prohibiting you from taking money out of your wife’s checking account to ordering you out of the family home. In more severe cases, a wife may file a temporary restraining order that prohibits you from returning home, seeing your children or contacting her. Do not violate the order! If you are unclear on what you are or are not allowed to do, seek legal help immediately. Sometimes temporary restraining orders (TRO) are filed by wives who want some sort of “cooling off” period after she has filed. Usually, this is because she is worried about how you will respond to the divorce. Please don’t violate these orders. Temporary restraining orders carry the force of law. This means that they can mean criminal penalties for violating them, so tread carefully.
Domestic Violence Protective Orders
3) Don’t violate the order! Domestic violence protective orders are the most serious and restrictive type of temporary restraining orders in a divorce case. Think of these as super restraining orders. These types of orders usually prohibit you from contacting your wife or children and returning home. There are usually restrictions from going near your home or the school where your children attend. When the facts of a divorce case warrant filing these types of orders, domestic violence protective orders are a godsend. When they are used for tactical purposes to gain a leg up in a divorce case, protective orders are radioactive to future case resolution. Domestic Violence Protective Orders (DVPO) can turn a run-of the-mill divorce into a nightmare. Tread carefully if handling a domestic violence protective order in conjunction with a Dallas divorce case. Even for a first-time offender, violation of a protective order is a Class A criminal misdemeanor.
How A Temporary Restraining Order Affects A Dallas Divorce Case
All three of the orders are quite a bit different in severity and scope. The type of order affects how seriously a judge takes the allegations that are contained within it. Automatic restraining orders do not usually have readily apparent negative consequences. However, temporary restraining orders (TRO) and domestic violence protective orders (DVPO) can give the wife the opportunity to define the terms of the divorce before the case has even started. Remember, restraining orders set the ground rules for how a divorce case will move through the court system. Given the stakes, there are times when it benefits a husband to file for divorce first.
If Temporary Restraining Orders Are So Bad, Are There Sometimes Good Reasons To Use Them?
You mean, besides the obvious, when domestic violence or abuse has occurred? Attorney uses them to give their clients some peace of mind when the case starts. As mentioned, they also use them when their client fears for their life such as when a wife thinks her husband will beat the crap out of her if she divorces him. I have routinely used temporary restraining orders and in some cases domestic violence Protective Orders when I have represented women married to wife beaters.
If you are dealing with a temporary restraining order in your Dallas divorce case, call Engel Law Group, P.S., at Engel Law Group, P.S. to understand how the temporary restraining order will affect your case.