Chesterfield Orders of Protection Attorneys
Working to Protect You & Your Family
Whether positive or otherwise, new situations in the lives of people and their children can mean that a person needs to be restricted from being a part of your life or the life of a family member. If you need advice about the possibility of getting an order of protection (also known as a “restraining order”), contact an experienced family law attorney at the Roberts Law Firm, P.C. We assist clients in Chesterfield, St. Louis, and throughout Missouri.
Call The Roberts Law Firm, P.C. today at (636) 590-4864 or fill out and submit an online contact form for a confidential consultation with one of our Chesterfield orders of protection lawyers.
Who Qualifies to Get an Order of Protection?
Instances of domestic violence are typically the primary reason people seek orders of protection. However, you may wish to obtain an order of protection for other reasons, such as fear of domestic violence, threats made by your former spouse, or stalking.
An order of protection protects you from abuse by a family or household member, including:
- Current spouse
- A former spouse
- Someone you currently live with
- Someone you have lived with
- A parent related to you by blood or marriage
- Another person related to you by blood or marriage
- Someone you are dating or have dated
- Someone whom you have had a child, even if you never lived together
What Are Orders of Protection?
An order of protection is a court order that is designed to stop violent
and harassing behavior and to protect you and your family, including your
children, from the abuser. You are eligible to file for an order of protection
if your abuser is a family or household member.
You may also file for an order of protection against someone who is stalking you, no matter what that your relationship is to that person.
Please note that in Missouri, restraining orders for domestic violence and stalking are called orders of protection. We have used the term “restraining order” generically in some places but in Missouri, the proper term and the term you should use in court is “order of protection.”
In Missouri, the legal definition of domestic violence includes any act of abuse. “Abuse” includes but is not limited to the occurrence of any of the following acts, attempts, or threats against a person who may be protected:
- “Assault” – Purposely or knowingly placing or attempting to place another in fear of physical harm
- “Battery” – Purposely or knowingly causing physical harm to another with or without a deadly weapon
- “Coercion” – Compelling another by force or threat of force to engage in conduct from which the latter has a right to abstain or to abstain from conduct in which the person has a right to engage
-
“Harassment” – Engaging in a purposeful or knowing course
of conduct involving more than one incident that alarms or causes distress
to another adult and serves no legitimate purpose; the course of conduct
must be such as would cause a reasonable adult to suffer substantial emotional
distress and must actually cause substantial emotional distress to the
petitioner.
Such conduct might include, but is not limited to:
- Following another about in a public place or places
- Peering in the window or lingering outside the residence of another; but does not include constitutionally protected activity
- “Sexual assault” – Causing or attempting to cause another to engage involuntarily in any sexual act by force, threat of force, or duress
- “Unlawful imprisonment” – Holding, confining, detaining, or abducting another person against that person’s will
In general, if a family or household member hurts you or tries to hurt you (with or without using a weapon) or gives you reason to believe that they are going to hurt you in the near future, that person has committed an act of domestic violence. For the purposes of getting an order of protection, you must have a specific relationship with your abuser (see above).
If you have been subjected to this type of behavior, contact The Roberts Law Firm, P.C. immediately so we may advise you of your legal rights. Our Chesterfield orders of protection lawyers can help you work quickly to seek an order of protection.
Call (636) 590-4864 now to discuss your situation with a member of our legal team.
