We urge you to apply for a temporary restraining order if your partner is making you the victim of domestic violence. Within 10 days of being granted this order, you may be expected to appear at a final restraining order hearing. Here, you may request that certain child support and custody provisions be added as part of this final order. Or, if you already have existing arrangements, you may ask for their modifications. With that being said, please follow along to find out how a restraining order might influence a current or pending child custody agreement and how a proficient Bergen County domestic violence attorney at McNerney & McAuliffe can help protect you and your child’s safety and well-being.
How does a restraining order affect custody and visitation?
For example purposes, say that you already have a child custody arrangement in place, from your previous divorce from your child’s other parent. Well, if your former partner has only been abusive towards you, and you only filed for a temporary restraining order to protect yourself, your custody order may remain unaffected. That is, they may maintain their pre-existing rights to physical and legal custody, and the parenting time schedule may proceed as normal.
But say your child has also been made the victim of physical, mental, or emotional violence. If so, you may simultaneously request a temporary plan for custody and visitation with your temporary restraining order, until your final restraining order hearing takes place in 10 days. Importantly, this temporary protective order may take precedence over your existing custody order. Then, to prevent any conflicts in the future, the court may take it upon itself to modify your existing custody order, which may strip your child’s other parent of any rights over or access to them.
Lastly, say that your litigated divorce proceedings are ongoing, and the court has yet to rule on a custody arrangement. Well, in showing the court your filed temporary restraining order and received a final restraining order, your soon-to-be former spouse may have little to no chance at earning any parental rights. This is unless they can sufficiently prove to the court that the restraining order does not apply to your child, and they do not have any history of acting violently toward your child in any way. This may require a formal parental evaluation, witness testimonies, and more.
How can I effectively co-parent if I have filed a restraining order?
To reiterate, if your restraining order does not apply to your child, you will still need to comply with your established child custody arrangement. However, you may be unsure how to execute this successfully, if you wish for no contact with your child’s other parent. Well, rest assured, there is a means for no-contact co-parenting.
This may mean alternating who attends which of your child’s events and having conversations concerning your child filtered through a lawyer or parenting coordinator. Also, you may have a trusted third party supervise the exchange of your child between you two, or use methods like one of you dropping your child off at school and the other one picking them up after school.
We can sympathize with how daunting this whole legal battle may be for you. Well, lucky for you, the team at McNerney & McAuliffe has successfully gone through this countless times before. So please, retain the services of a talented Bergen County child custody attorney today.