What an order of protection is in New York
An order of protection (sometimes called a restraining order) is a court order that limits how one person can behave toward another. In New York there are two paths: Family Court, which is civil, and Criminal Court, which follows from an arrest. They can run in parallel.
A temporary order can be entered the day you file. A final order is entered after a hearing where both sides can be heard. Final orders typically last two years, longer in aggravated circumstances.
Depending on the facts, an order can require the other party to stay away from you, your home, your workplace, and your children’s school. It can prohibit contact of any kind, direct or through third parties. It can require surrender of firearms. It can address temporary custody, child support, and exclusion from a shared home.
How to file in Family Court
You start with a Family Offense Petition, filed in the Family Court of the county where you live, where the other party lives, or where the incident occurred. The court can issue an ex parte temporary order the same day if the facts warrant it.
The other party is then served and a hearing is scheduled, usually within a few weeks. At the hearing the petitioner has to prove a family offense by a preponderance of the evidence. If the court finds in the petitioner’s favor, it enters a final order with the terms it considers necessary.
Family Court only has jurisdiction over family offenses between people in a defined relationship: spouses, former spouses, family members, people who have a child together, and people in an intimate relationship. The qualifying offenses are listed in the Family Court Act, including harassment, stalking, menacing, assault, and others.
If you have been accused
Take the allegation seriously even if you believe it is false. A temporary order is in effect the moment it is signed. Comply with it strictly. A technical violation, including a single text message, is a crime that can be charged separately.
Do not contact the petitioner, even through friends or family. Do not post about the case on social media. If you share children, exchanges must happen exactly as the temporary order directs.
Where there are parallel criminal charges, we coordinate closely with experienced criminal counsel. In the Family Court matter, our job is to prepare the strongest possible defense to the family offense petition and to protect your parenting and financial rights during and after the hearing.
Effect on custody and divorce
A finding of domestic violence is a factor the court must consider when deciding custody and visitation under New York Domestic Relations Law §240. It does not automatically bar an offending parent from access to a child, but it shapes the entire custody analysis and frequently the structure of parenting time.
Findings can also affect equitable distribution. Statutory factors include wasteful dissipation and domestic violence during the marriage. We make sure the record reflects what happened on both sides.
Safety resources
If you are in danger right now, call 911. Otherwise, these confidential hotlines are staffed twenty-four hours a day by people trained for this. You do not have to be ready to file or to leave to call them.