How Restraining Orders and Orders of Protection Work

Divorce and child custody disputes in Utah are complicated, even under the best of circumstances. In particularly contentious cases, protecting yourself, your children, and your legal rights can be a day-to-day battle requiring the presiding court to intervene by issuing restraining orders, orders of protection, and other forms of injunctive relief.

Ken Peterson at Northern Utah Law knows how to protect his clients throughout the domestic dispute process. If you are concerned about your former spouse or partner’s conduct, Ken can go to court to get the relief you need to restore your peace of mind. Or, if you are on the receiving end of a protective order, Ken Peterson can help you challenge its legality.

What Does an Order of Protection Do?

In Utah, you have three basic types of protective orders that you can petition a Utah District Court for physical protection.

Juvenile Protective Order:

Any interested person may file a petition for a protective order on behalf of a child who is being abused or is in imminent danger of being abused. Sometimes the child themselves file a protective order, and sometimes it is the parent, guardian, or grandparent. These protective orders are sometimes misused and attempted by one parent during the pendency of a divorce or custody proceeding to gain custody of a minor child. Other times, there are legitimate petitions to avoid a child being physically or sexually abused.

Domestic Violence Protective Order: Technically called the Cohabitant Abuse Protective Order. These protective orders are your classic domestic violence protective orders. Any emancipated child, or a person who is 16 years of age or older who:

is or was a spouse of the other party;
is or was living as if a spouse of the other party;
is related by blood or marriage to the other party;
has or had one or more children in common with the other party;
is the biological parent of the other party’s unborn child; or
resides or has resided in the same residence as the other party.

These orders, like juvenile protective orders, can be misused by a parent during the pendency of a custody battle to get the child(ren) from the other parent. Like the child protective order, if you violate these orders you can be charged with a Class A Misdemeanor.

Stalking Protective Orders: An anti-stalking protective order is used when you are not related to the abuser or do not fit one of the categories of the broader domestic violence cohabitant abuse protective orders described above. Another key distinction between a stalking protective order and its juvenile and adult versions is that a stalking order requires two or more stalking-defined instances. Whereas the other protective orders only require one incident of abuse or imminent abuse.

Any person who feels that a third party is stalking them in two or more stalking incidents as defined by Utah law. Stalking injunctions may not be obtained against cops, governmental investigators, or licensed private investigators, acting in their official capacity. You need to prove at least two stalking acts and the statue is much broader on what types of acts constitute stalking compared to what constitutes abuse under child or adult protective orders.