Orders of protection are safety devices for people in danger. However, people can manipulate them to achieve their own goals. Not only does this limit where the order of protection recipient can go, but it also interferes with other aspects of their life. If you’re facing this situation, you need a qualified Brooklyn order of protection defense attorney that understands your concerns and will fight the order of protection.
For two decades, the Gilmer Law Firm, PLLC. of Brooklyn, New York, has been actively defending the rights of those falsely targeted as recipients of orders of protection. Most often, these orders are part of ongoing wranglings between feuding or divorced couples or between others in complex domestic relationships. Because of the close relationships involved, many orders of protection arise from Family Offense petitions filed in family court.
Our lead family law attorney routinely defends individuals who have been falsely accused of misconduct or abuse and saddled with unfair orders of protection in the context of a failing marriage, relationship, or divorce. If you are in this situation, contacting our office will empower you and give you the feeling that you are not in this predicament alone. We will fight to return to life without constraints, free of unreasonable restrictions on your movements and undeserved stains on your character.
Why not speak with our experienced Brooklyn order of protection defense lawyer today so we can begin untangling the knots of anger and resentment and get at the truth? We have the experience and skills to set things right.
What Is an Order of Protection?
An order of protection in New York is a legal order designed to prohibit the person served from contacting the person or people named in the order, and from committing acts of domestic violence against them. People may also call an order of protection a protective order or a restraining order.
It can be filed as a Family Offense petition in the Family Court of the State of New York. It also provides for several other kinds of protective relief, removing firearms from the home and preventing the use of the home by the recipient. In New York, orders of protection may be very specific, for example, permitting you to text or email your children but not to visit them. A restraining order can be obtained in criminal or family court. In family court the case is initiated by filing a Family Offense petition.
Temporary vs. Permanent Orders of Protection
The initial restraining order is temporary and will expire at the next scheduled court date. Typically, the court will extend the order of protection until the next court date until the case is over.
At the end of the case, the court may issue a permanent order of protection as a part of the court’s final judgment. A “permanent” restraining order is typically valid for one year or two years. If there are aggravated circumstances, the court can enter a five-year order of protection. This Order can tell you not to harass the Petitioner for a selected period of time. It can also be a full stay-away order where you have to stay completely away from the Petitioner for a selected period of time.
Who Can Be Served with Family Court Orders of Protection in New York?
In most cases, orders of protection in family court can be filed against:
- Former or current intimate partners
- Former or current spouses
- Blood relatives
- The other parents of your child or children
Orders of protection in family court are limited to people who have or had an intimate or familial relationship of some kind.
Misuse of Orders of Protection
It is wise to hire an experienced Brooklyn order of protection defense lawyer in cases where the law is being misused. George Mark Gilmer has twenty years of experience in these matters. While orders of protection can provide an important safety net for individuals who are intimidated by hostile or abusive demands, when misused, the orders themselves can be weaponized. If you have been served with a restraining order, you already know that it can negatively impact your life by:
- Keeping you from entering your own home
- Preventing you from seeing your own children, even at their school
- Damaging your reputation by showing up on background checks
- Not permitting you to have a gun
- Demanding child support be paid at once
- Interfering with your employment opportunities
This is why you should consult with protection order lawyers in Brooklyn, such as the Gilmer Law Firm, PLLC, to help you get your life back.
How Orders of Protection Are Obtained
The reason orders of protection are so frequently executed unfairly is that the courts issue them without confirming the truth of the allegations. Erring on the side of caution by assuming the person looking for a restraining order may truly be in danger, a judge won’t hear both sides of the story until the order has been issued. Unfortunately, it is common for spouses and exes to use restraining orders as a means to tilt divorce proceedings or child custody hearings in their favor.
How the Gilmer Law Firm, PLLC Will Help You Fight a Restraining Order
Once you have a capable lawyer like Mr. Gilmer on your team, an experienced Brooklyn order of protection defense attorney, you can rest assured that he will do everything possible to resolve the problem. First, he will file a motion to terminate the order on your behalf. This will result in a court hearing within a week.
You should be aware that, during this intervening period, it is critical that you avoid violating the restraining order that is in force. Disobeying the law will put you in a much worse position and could lead to criminal charges or even jail time. In any event, violating the restraining order is likely to convince the judge that the order is indeed necessary.
Experienced New York orders of protection attorneys, like Mr. Gilmer, can help you if you’re facing this situation. Our Brooklyn order of protection defense lawyer will be with you every step of the way, by gathering evidence that works to exonerate you, such as:
- Telephone records
- Computer data
- Texts or email messages
- GPS records of your whereabouts
- Witness accounts
Such evidence will often persuade the judge that the restraining order should be modified or dismissed.
If, however, there is evidence of domestic violence on your part, the judge is unlikely to be flexible. Of course, there are cases in which the actual abuser has rewritten history as if the victim were the offender, serving him or her with a restraining order. In such cases, you can count on The Gilmer Law Firm to work tirelessly to straighten things out.
What Not To Do When Faced with a Restraining Order
We advise you not to engage in certain actions that, while tempting, will only do your case harm, such as:
- Do not destroy evidence you think may hurt your case (this could lead to criminal charges)
- Do not attempt to communicate with the petitioner or individuals you expect to be the petitioner’s witnesses
- Do not try to see your children secretively (e.g. on their way to the school bus or at their aunt’s house) if they have been named in the restraining order
- Do not disobey any stipulation of the restraining order
As noted earlier, disobeying the court order will only cast you in the role of a criminal, or at least make you more suspect. When you have a highly skilled Brooklyn order of protection defense attorney fighting for you, you don’t want to make his job harder than it already is.
Contact Our Talented Attorney to Protect You from Your Restraining Order
When you’re facing a threat to your ability to access your family or home, you need an experienced Brooklyn order of protection defense attorney to fight for your rights. Fortunately, the Gilmer Law Firm, PLLC, brings decades of New York legal knowledge and skill to each case we handle.
The sooner you call the Gilmer Law Firm, PLLC, with offices located in Brooklyn, New York, the sooner we can take action to free you from the constraints of an unfair family offense restraining order. We know how painful it is to be cast as the villain and forced to stay away from your home and the children you love. That’s why we will do everything in our power to get you back on an even footing. Please call 718-864-0211 for a free phone consultation.