There are many reasons for restraining orders. However, if someone has filed a protective order against you, contact the Iyer Law Office in Englewood, Colorado right away to discuss the case with a restraining order attorney. This comprehensive and controversial action comes with restrictions and consequences that you may not even be aware of – the effects of which could have a lasting impact on nearly all areas of your life. Your best defense is an aggressive restraining order attorney to fight for your interests.

What Are Restraining Orders?

Here in Denver, a restraining order or protective order is a civil order issued by a court and designed to cut contact between two people, including physical contact, phone calls, text messages and more. The purpose is to protect a person from being harmed, harassed or intimidated by threatening legal action against a perpetrator. Those involved are typically in an intimate relationship, including but not limited to current or former spouses or partners, relatives or roommates. There are also reasons for restraining orders that do not require an intimate relationship – for example, being stalked by a coworker.

Reasons for Restraining Orders

The most frequent reason for a protective order to be issued is because of domestic violence. This is a broad-reaching term that includes any attempt, threat or actual act of violence, stalking, harassment or coercion (through force or intimidation). Colorado’s domestic violence laws not only apply to an alleged victim but their children and animals that they own. Behavior considered to be abusive may include:

• Name-calling
• Throwing things
• Phone calls or text messages that threaten or harass
• Threats to physically/sexually abuse the child(ren)
• Threatening to harm animals
• Threatening to follow, damage property or use a weapon against them
• An abuser threatening self-injury
• Any physical harm: grabbing, pushing, punching, kicking, slapping, biting, choking, etc.
• Sexual contact forced upon a person or children in the household
• Being forced/confined to a closet, room, house, or any location against their will

Here’s a more situational look at reasons for restraining orders:

Sexual Assault: If a person is not able to provide consent – due to being asleep, unconscious, impaired or otherwise unable to comprehend sexual contact – it’s considered sexual assault if a person knowingly proceeds to sexually penetrate or intrude the victim. All it takes is an assertion of sexual assault before the court for a person to have a temporary restraining order filed against you. No conviction needed.

Threatening Physical Harm: This situation that does not require a prior or intimate relationship. Here, threatening physical violence is all it takes for a restraining order to be taken out against you. Perhaps, during a heated argument at a bar, you yell, “I’ll punch you in the face, you f***ing jerk!” The person on the receiving end can request a protective order based on name-calling and a threat of physical harm.

Stalking: Whether or not you have or haven’t had an intimate relationship with someone, they can file a protective order if they’re able to show indications of stalking behavior. This doesn’t exclusively pertain to physically stalking, but repeatedly calling, texting, surveilling, emailing, even social media messaging. It can also extend to you attempting to contact the alleged victim via their friends or family members.

What Do Restraining Orders Involve?

Here in Colorado and many other states, protective orders can be Temporary, Permanent or Emergency, depending on the situation. Temporary orders require no actual evidence of a threat or crime. Instead, a judge will listen to the alleged victim’s story and make a determination. Permanent orders are far more involved and give you an opportunity to argue against it – a restraining order attorney is highly advised as this could impact the rest of your life. During off-hours, when a court and judge are not available, an Emergency order is typically requested by a law enforcement and lasts just three days before expiring.

Once in place, any of these restraining order types will require you to follow a variety of requirements and constraints. Each case is as different as the reasons for restraining orders, so talk to an attorney to have everything explained. Here are just a few items that could be included in a protective order:

• A command to stop any threats or acts of violence or harm.
• Immediately halt all contact with the alleged victim, staying away from their home, workplace, or places they frequent such as their gym, school, or the homes of friends/family members. If you share a home, you can absolutely be ordered to move out.
• There are to be no other forms of indirect or direct contact such as calling, texting, emailing or sending messages through a friend, family member or other third party.
• If the restraining order extends to any children involved (even if they are your own), you must also stay away from their home, daycare facility, school or any location they might be found.
• Care and control of children and parenting rights, which may include requiring you to pay child and spousal support, as well as determining if supervised or unsupervised visits are allowed.
• Orders to continue legal and financial household obligations, even if you are required to leave the home, such as paying the mortgage/rent, transportation, utilities, child care, insurance, etc.

Other Effects of Restraining Orders

Beyond vastly limiting where you can go and who you can be around, there are many other effects of a restraining order being taken out against you. Right out of the gate, there’s the stigma of being labeled an abusive or violent person. This is especially tough if the restraining order was filed out of revenge or under false pretenses, we see it all the time. A restraining order can also show up on a background check for a job you want or an apartment you need to rent because you’ve been forced out of your own home. It can also affect your credit, even force you to give up any firearms you own. It takes its toll on your life.

With so many reasons for restraining orders and no concrete evidence needed in certain situations, do not take a back seat if a protective order has been filed against you. Call the restraining order attorneys at the Iyer Law Office in Englewood, Colorado and serving the Denver metro area. We’ll represent your interests and fight to protect your good name. Simply contact us today for your free case evaluation.