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April 2019
We translated into Spanish our Oregon Restraining Orders for the Elderly and Disabled section in the Restraining Orders page.
Based on a New York law that became effective in November 2018, we added coercion in the 3rd degree to What is the legal definition of domestic violence (“family offenses”) in New York? as a ground for getting an order of protection. We also updated three other questions in our New York Orders of Protection page based on July 2018 changes to the law. All changes were made in English and Spanish. We also added the related statute to our Selected New York Statutes page.
Based on a new law that took effect in 2018, we added information to Will the abuser go to jail for having a gun when s/he isn’t supposed to? in our New York State Gun Laws section about judges being required to order the surrender of firearms after a defendant is convicted of a felony or serious offense. Changes made in English; Spanish soon to come. We also added the related statute to our Selected New York Statutes page in English.
We translated into Spanish the recent revisions to our California Divorce page.
Based on a 2019 change to the law, we added information to our New York Suing an Abuser page about the extended statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit against someone who sexually abused you as a child. Changes made in English and Spanish. We also added two related statutes to our Selected New York Statutes page in English.
We translated our Abuse in Immigrant Communities page in our Abuse in Specific Communities section.
Based on changes to the laws, we updated What is the legal definition of domestic abuse in New Mexico? on our New Mexico Protection Orders (for domestic violence) page to add strangulation and suffocation. And in our New Mexico State Gun Laws page, we revised the information in What is the penalty for violating state and federal firearm laws? All changes were made in Spanish and English. We regret the delay in making these updates, which became effective in July 2018.
We translated into Spanish our newly updated and edited Immigration Refugee Status page.
We updated our Iowa Suing an Abuser page to reflect the fact that the small claims court limit increased from $5,000 to $6,500. This change became effective in 2018 – we regret the delay in correcting this.
We updated the contact information for one domestic violence program on our Georgia Local Programs page in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for one domestic violence program on our Virginia Local Programs page in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for two domestic violence programs on our Washington Local Programs page in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for one domestic violence program on our Kansas Local Programs page.
We updated the contact information for two domestic violence programs on our California Local Programs page in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for one local program on our Massachusetts Local Programs page in English.
On our Oregon Divorce page, we added the questions Can I get spousal support? What factors will a judge consider? and What types of spousal support are there? in English to explain the factors a judge will consider when awarding spousal support in a divorce case in Oregon. (Spanish soon to come!). We also added the relevant statute to our Selected Oregon Statutes page in English.
In our Iowa Divorce page, we updated links to outside sources in the question Where can I find more information about divorce in Iowa?
We updated three questions in our Delaware State Gun Laws section based on a December 2018 change to the law that made firearm possession illegal for someone who is subject to a lethal protection order.
On our D.C. Suing an Abuser page, we updated a link to the D.C. Courts website and corrected the small claims court maximum limit to $10,000. Changes were made in English and Spanish. We regret the error in not updating this information earlier in that the law changed in 2017.
On our D.C. Crimes page, we updated the link for the D.C. Victim Compensation Program and added a link to the D.C. Victim Hotline in English and Spanish.
We updated two resources on our New Jersey Legal Assistance page in English. Spanish translation coming soon!
We created a Discovery section as part of our ongoing Preparing for Court - By Yourself project. This new section explains how to use and respond to various discovery tools, including, document requests, depositions, interrogatories, a bill of particulars, and witness lists. The discovery information was added in English only, but Spanish is coming soon!
In our California Domestic Violence Restraining Orders section, we added information to Step 4 - Service of process about what to do when the respondent is evading service. The additions, which are based on a 2019 change to the law, were made in English. Spanish coming soon! We also added two related statutes in English to the Selected California Statutes page.
Based on 2019 changes to the law, we added information to our California Child Support page and updated three questions on our California Custody page. All changes were made in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for all 82 courthouses on our Michigan Courthouse Locations page and added two new ones. All changes made in Spanish and English.
March 2019
We added two new statutes about termination of parental rights to our Utah Selected State Statutes page.
We updated our Massachusetts Custody page. Spanish translation coming soon!
We updated the address of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office on our Missouri Sheriff Departments page.
We added links to court forms related to domestic violence protection orders and divorce, custody, and parenting plans to our Ohio Restraining Orders page and Download Court Forms page.
We updated and edited our Immigration Refugee Status page in English. Spanish translation coming soon!
In the Ohio Domestic Violence Protection Orders page, we corrected the information in In which county can I file for a protection order? We also linked to the Juvenile Civil Protection Order FAQ from the Supreme Court of Ohio’s website in two questions in the Restraining Orders section that deal with filing against a minor.
We updated the contact information for all 117 courthouses on our Illinois Courthouse Locations page in English and Spanish.
We updated and re-wrote our Oregon Family Abuse Prevention Act Restraining Orders page. Spanish coming soon!
We updated the links on our Alabama Download Court Forms page.
We updated the contact information for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) and the Women’s Law Project on our Pennsylvania Statewide Programs page, based on their new, updated website. We also added new information about PCADV’s new legal information helpline, PA Safe Law. All changes made in English - Spanish soon to come.
We added the crime of “Violating custodial order” to the Iowa Crimes page and the Selected Iowa Statutes page.
We added two new resources to our Mississippi Legal Assistance page.
We updated and re-wrote our Oregon Stalking Protection Orders page. Spanish coming soon!
We updated our Safety While Using the Internet section, re-wrote Can I permanently delete my Facebook profile? and created a new question in English called What precautions should I take if I want to email a domestic violence program for help? Spanish soon to come!
We updated our Mississippi Statewide Programs page as well as eleven organizations on our Local Programs page. We also added the MCADV Legal Program to our Legal Assistance page.
We updated the contact information for four state and local programs on our Delaware Advocates and Shelters page.
We added the question “What can I do if the abuser keeps filing petitions or motions against me?” to our Tennessee Protection Orders for Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking page, Divorce page, and Custody page and added the corresponding statute to our Tennessee State Statutes page.
We updated the links to outside resources on our Helping Others - Advocates page in both English and Spanish.
We added a question called What are the basic steps for filing for divorce? to our Michigan Divorce page in English and Spanish.
In our Pennsylvania Custody page, we added information to Who is entitled to seek custody? and I am the child’s grandparent or great-grandparent. Can I get custody? based on 2018 changes in the law. Changes made in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for Alternatives to Domestic Violence in our New Jersey Local Programs page.
In our New Jersey Crimes page, we updated the link to the NJ Victims of Crime Compensation Office’s website in Spanish and English.
February 2019
In our New Jersey Domestic Violence Restraining Orders page, to make the information easier to read, we divided the information about protections that you can get in an order into two separate questions called: What protections can I get in a temporary ex parte restraining order (TRO)? and What protections can I get in a final (permanent) restraining order? All changes made in Spanish and English.
In our New Hampshire Crimes page, we updated the website and phone numbers for the New Hampshire Department of Justice Victims’ Compensation Program website.
We added links to rules of evidence for every state in which they are available in a new section called Rules of Evidence (in English) on our Preparing for Court - By Yourself page under Court System Basics. Spanish soon to come! (We will soon add a section explaining common rules of evidence in both English and Spanish.)
In our New Hampshire Divorce page, we re-wrote the question Can I get alimony? What types of alimony are there? to add information about the judge considering the that each spouse will have to maintain a separate household when making an alimony determination and to explain the different types of alimony. In the question How will a judge decide the amount of alimony that I get? we added information about the formula amount and when the judge can go above that amount. We also added two new questions called At what point during the divorce process do I need to request alimony? and If I get alimony, how long will it last? Lastly, we added two related statutes to our Selected New Hampshire Statutes page.
We updated the links to outside crime victim resources on our North Dakota Crimes page.
We completely revised all of the current information in the North Dakota Custody section. We also added two new questions called Can a parent who committed domestic violence against me get parenting time? and Can a parent who sexually abused my child get parental responsibilities or parenting time? and added a related statute to the Selected North Dakota Statutes page.
We updated the courthouse website for the Berks County Services Center in Berks County, Pennsylvania on our Pennsylvania Courthouse Locations page.
We created a new North Dakota Child Support section with four new questions. We also added a related statute to our Selected North Dakota Statutes page.
We added the crime of “Taking, enticing away, or keeping of unmarried minor child by parent” to the South Dakota Crimes page and the Selected South Dakota Statutes page.
We updated the information on our Montana Suing an Abuser page and added links to forms and additional information from the Montana Judicial Branch website.
in our Montana Divorce section, we updated the links to outside sources in Where can I find additional information about divorce laws in Montana?
We added the crimes of deviate sexual intercourse, strangulation of a partner or family member, and sexual abuse of children to our Montana Crimes page.
We revised all of the information in our Montana Custody section. For example, we revised the question How will a judge make a decision about a parenting plan (custody)? by linking the remaining three crimes listed on that page to their definitions on our Selected Montana Statutes page. We also re-wrote If my child was conceived from rape, can the offender (parent) get custodial rights or visitation? to include more information. Lastly, we added five related statutes to our Selected Montana Statutes page.
We added links to additional court forms on our Montana Download Court Forms page.
We updated our Mississippi Download Court Forms page.
We updated the links to outside sources in our Mississippi Custody section (in the question Where can I find more information on custody in Mississippi?) and in our Mississippi Suing an Abuser page.
We completely re-organized and revised our Mississippi State Gun Laws section to make it easier to read. In addition to adding a new sub-section called The Abuser is Not Supposed to Have a Gun…Now What?, we also removed the majority of the federal gun laws information so that the section focuses on Mississippi state laws.
We updated our Mississippi State Gun Laws section based on a 2016 amendment to the law that loosened the residency requirements for getting a license to carry a concealed firearm. We regret the delay in making this change.
On our Louisiana Suing an Abuser page, we updated the links to three parishes’ websites with small claims court information.
In our Louisiana Divorce page, we created a new question called How much alimony can I get? and we added information about to Can I get spousal support? about how a judge will determine whether or not domestic abuse occurred. We also added a related statute to the Selected Louisiana Statutes page. Lastly, we added new links to outside sources in Where can I find additional information about divorce?
Based on a 2018 change to Louisiana’s law, we updated the information in Where can I file for a sexual assault protective order?
We updated the information for RISE, an organization listed on our California Local Programs page in English and Spanish.
In our Oregon Local Programs page, we added Domestic Violence Services, Inc. to our Morrow County section in English and Spanish.
We translated into Spanish our Puerto Rico Gun Laws page.
In our Louisiana Protective Orders (for Domestic Abuse) section, we revised the question What protections can I get in a protective order? to remove information about a judge being able to order the petitioner to undergo a mental health evaluation. The change was based on a 2018 amendment to the law.
We translated into Spanish our Oregon State Gun Laws page.
We completely revised and re-wrote our Louisiana State Gun Laws section in order to update the information based on 2018 changes to the law. We also created two new questions called What reasons would someone be denied a permit to carry a concealed handgun? and If the abuser’s gun is taken away, what will happen to it? We also added three related statutes to our Selected Louisiana Statutes page.
In both of our Louisiana Protective Orders sections (for domestic abuse and stalking), we revised the information in the question “What can I do it the abuser violates the order?”
We added five custody-related statutes to our Selected Louisiana Statutes page.
We translated into Spanish the Courthouse Locations in Pennsylvania.
We translated into Spanish our recently revised general Divorce page.
We added twenty-two new crimes to the Louisiana Crimes page, including sexting, sexual battery, statutory rape, domestic abuse battery, and more. We added the related twenty-two statutes to our Selected Louisiana Crimes page.
In our Louisiana Custody page, based on 2018 changes to the law, we re-wrote the information in multiple questions regarding when a parent who committed violence or sexual abuse can get custody or visitation. We also created four new questions called If my child was conceived as a result of rape, can the parent (offender) get any rights to my child?, Can a parent who sexually abused my child (or another child) get visitation? Can a parent who sexually abused my child (or another child) get custody? and Can a non-parent get custody?
On our general Domestic Violence Restraining Orders page, we added a link in English and Spanish to the newly-relocated Overview of Civil vs. Criminal Law, which is now housed in our Court System Basics section.
We revised the Oregon Custody page to make it easier to read. We also added a question called If my child was conceived as a result of rape, can the parent (offender) get custody? and we updated the links to outside resources in Where can I get additional information about custody in Oregon? All changes made in English. Spanish soon to come!
We translated into Spanish the revised contact information for the 36 courthouses listed in our Oregon Courthouse Locations page.
In our Minnesota Custody section, we revised the question Can a parent who committed violence get custody or visitation? to explain the legal standard of “rebuttable presumption” that affects the judge’s decision.
We updated the links to outside resources on our Minnesota Divorce page.
We added links to court forms related to custody and parenting time to our Minnesota Custody page and Download Court Forms page.
We added the crime of “criminal defamation” to the Minnesota Crimes page and the Selected Minnesota Statutes page.
We added information to our Minnesota Suing an Abuser page about the right to sue someone for sharing your private sexual images with other without your consent or for posting an ad that invites others to contact you for sexual acts without your permission to do so. We also added two related statutes to our Selected Minnesota Statutes page.
January 2019
We added an Abuse in Immigrant Communities page in English in our Abuse in Specific Communities section. Spanish translation coming soon!
Based on changes to the law, we revised our California Divorce page in English (Spanish soon to come) to include, for example, that a judge can consider:
- a misdemeanor conviction when deciding whether an abused spouse has to pay alimony to the abuser; and
- whether the person convicted of the crime was actually the real victim.
We updated and added content to our Immigration Asylum page in English. Spanish translation coming soon!
In our Maine Custody section, we re-wrote the question Can a grandparent get visitation? to clarify the difference between having “standing” to file a petition and actually getting visitation and to include information based on changes to the law. We also added a related statute to our Selected Maine Statutes page. Lastly, we added additional factors that a judge will consider (that were inadvertently left out) to the question How will the judge decide on a parental rights and responsibilities arrangement?
In our Maine Protection from Abuse Orders (for the elderly/dependent/incapacitated) section, we clarified that this section explains additional people against whom a person can file but it doesn’t affect his/her ability to file against a family or household member or dating partner. We also clarified the definition of dependent adult and added additional acts that qualify as abuse that we previously erroneously left out. We also added a related statute to our Selected Maine Statutes section.
We translated into Spanish our Connecticut Moving to Another State with a Restraining Order and Enforcing Your Out-of-State Order sections in the Restraining Order page. We also translated our Download Court Forms page for this state.
Based on a December 2018 addition to the law that added three additional crimes as grounds for minor victims to qualify for a PFA, we updated the two questions in our Maine Protection from Abuse Orders (for domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and more) section.
Based on an August 2018 addition to the law, we changed the name of the crime of “harassment by telephone” to “harassment by telephone or electronic communication device” in our Maine Crimes page and Protection from Harassment Orders page.
Based on a September 2018 change to the law regarding re-applying for a firearm permit once five years have passed since completing certain criminal sentences, we updated two questions in our Maine State Gun Laws page.
Based on a December 2018 addition to the law, we updated the question What documents or proof do I need to give my landlord to get out of my lease if I am a victim? in our Maine Housing Laws section.
We revised our Maine Protection from Harassment Orders page to make it easier to understand. We also added a new question called Under what circumstances would I need to request that law enforcement issue a notice to stop the harassment before applying for an order?
We translated into Spanish the new information in our Florida Injunctions for Protection Against Repeat Violence, Dating Violence, or Sexual Violence section.
We translated into Spanish the Massachusetts section on Harassment Prevention Orders.
We added nine new crimes to our Maine Crimes page.
Based on a law that took effect in December 2018, we updated our Maine Protection from Harassment Orders page to add eleven new reasons why a person could qualify for an order. We also added nine related statutes to the Selected Maine Statutes page.
In our Kentucky Housing Laws section, we added two new questions under the newly-created sub-section called Protection for eviction for calling 911. We also added the related statute to our Selected Kentucky Statutes page.
We added information to our Kentucky Interpersonal Protective Orders page about how a conviction for certain sex offenses automatically triggers the issuance of an order on the victim’s behalf. We also added a related statute to our Selected Kentucky Statutes page.
Based on 2018 changes to the law, we added information to two questions in our Kentucky Custody section about the rebuttable presumption towards joint custody and equal parenting time, as well as additional “best interest factors” that a judge must consider. We also added a related statute to our Selected Kentucky Statutes page.
We translated into Spanish our Massachusetts Child Support page.
We translated into Spanish the Michigan Download Court Forms page.
We translated into Spanish the Michigan Non-Domestic Sexual Assault Personal Protection Orders page.
In our Indiana Divorce page, we updated the links for divorce forms in the question Where can I find additional information about divorce in Indiana?
On our Indiana Suing an Abuser page, we added information about Marion County, which has a limit of $8,000 per claim as opposed to $6,000 in other counties. We also added a link to the Indiana Judicial Branch’s video on how to represent yourself in small claims court. Lastly, we added three related statutes to the Selected Indiana Statutes page.
On our Indiana Download Court Forms page, we added a new link to divorce forms found on the Coalition for Court Access website and added descriptions about the types of forms that can be found on the Indiana Judicial Branch website.
We created a Puerto Rico Gun Laws section in English to explain the gun laws in Puerto Rico relating to domestic violence, orders of protection, and crimes. Spanish coming soon! We also added three related statutes to the Selected Puerto Rico Statutes section, in Spanish.
We translated into Spanish the Michigan Non-Domestic Stalking Personal Protection Orders page.
In our Indiana Orders for Protection due to Domestic Violence page, we re-wrote What protections can I get in an order for protection due to domestic violence? and added information about the protection of pets and transferring shared cell phone numbers to a petitioner based on 2017 additions to the law. (We regret the delay in adding this information.) We also added a related statute to the Selected Indiana Statutes page.
We translated into Spanish the Michigan Custody information page.
On our Asylum page, we revised the information in the question What is asylum? Who can be eligible for asylum status? to reflect the December 19, 2018 court ruling related to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault who apply for asylum. Changes made in English and Spanish.
On our Illinois Divorce page, we added a question called What are the basic steps for filing for divorce? in English and Spanish.
On our Massachusetts Divorce page, we added a question called What are the basic steps for filing for divorce? in English and Spanish.
On our Colorado Divorce page, we added a question called What are the basic steps for filing for divorce? in English and Spanish.
In our Arkansas Crimes page, we added four crimes related to kidnapping and interference with custody and visitation in English and Spanish. We also added one related statute to our Selected Arkansas Statutes page in English.
We added a new question to our Indiana Custody page called What is a “de facto custodian” and can s/he get custody?
We added four crimes to our Kansas Crimes page, including ”commercial sexual exploitation of a child” and “human trafficking” and we added the related statutes to our Selected Kansas Statutes page.
We revised all of the information in our Kansas Protection from Stalking, Sexual Assault, or Human Trafficking Orders section based on a 2018 law that includes human trafficking victims and we added three related statutes to our Selected Kansas Statutes page. We also added two new questions: What is the legal definition of human trafficking in Kansas? and Can a minor file for an order?
We revised the information in What types of orders are there? How long do they last? in our Kansas Protection from Abuse Orders page to clarify that a victim would contact law enforcement to apply for an emergency order when the courts are closed.
In our Kansas Protection from Abuse Orders page, we added a new question called Can a minor file for an order? and we updated the information in Am I eligible to file for a protection from abuse order? based on a 2018 change to Kansas law.
Based on a 2018 change to the law regarding “criminal use of weapons” that included more people prohibited from using a firearm, we updated three questions in our Kansas State Gun Laws section. We also updated the related statute in our Selected Kansas Statutes page.
We took the brief information that we had about child support in Washington from our Custody page and moved it to a new Child Support page that we created in English and Spanish. We also added one related statute to our Selected Washington Statutes page in English.
We added links to court forms for non-parental custody to the question Can a non-parent file for custody of a child? in our Washington Custody section. Changes made in English and Spanish.
On our Missouri Sheriff Departments page, we updated the contact information for the St. Clair County Sheriff’s office.
We updates two resources on our California Local Programs page in English and Spanish.
We revised our general Divorce page in English, adding the questions: What happens with child custody and child support after filing for divorce? and Can I take my children out of the state once a divorce is filed? Spanish soon to come.
We translated into Spanish our Michigan Enforcing Your Out-of-State Order section in the Restraining Order page.
We translated into Spanish our Michigan Moving with an Abuse Prevention Order section in the Restraining Order page.
We translated into Spanish our Massachusetts Moving with an Abuse Prevention Order section in the Restraining Order page.
We updated the link to the Kansas Judicial Council’s website to access small claims court forms on our Kansas Suing an Abuser page.
We translated into Spanish the Massachusetts Enforcing Your Out-of-State Order section in the Restraining Orders page.
We added three new questions to our Tennessee Custody page and revised the rest of the section to add new information to the existing questions. We also added one related statute to the Selected Tennessee Statutes page.
On our Tennessee Crimes page, we added eight new crimes and updated the links to outside resources. We also added eight related statutes to the Selected Tennessee Statutes page.
We updated our Tennessee Download Court Forms page and added links to parenting plan forms and to a court-issued guide to creating a parenting plan.
We revised all of the contact information for the 36 courthouses listed in our Oregon Courthouse Locations page. Spanish coming soon!
In our Texas Family Violence Protective Orders section, we added examples to the different relationships in Who is eligible for a protective order? to clarify the information. Changes were made in English and Spanish.
December 2018
In our U.S. Virgin Islands Divorce section, we added the question What are the basic steps for filing for divorce?
In Alabama, we created a new Child Support section. We also revised all of the information on our Custody page, including re-writing the information in What do I have to do to relocate my child? and adding a question called Can the non-relocating parent object to my plan to relocate my child? We also added two related statutes to our Selected Alabama Statutes page.
In Michigan, we added the question “Will I have to face the abuser in court?” in English and Spanish to the Non-Domestic Stalking Personal Protection Orders section and the Non-Domestic Sexual Assault Personal Protection Orders section.
We completely re-wrote our Alaska State Gun Laws page, revising all of the current information and adding two new questions. We also added seven related statutes to our Selected Alaska Statutes page.
We translated into Spanish the information on our Massachusetts Housing Laws page.
We translated into Spanish our recently updated Divorce information in Massachusetts.
We translated into Spanish our recently updated Divorce information in Illinois.
We translated into Spanish our recently updated Divorce information in Colorado.
