What’s New on WomensLaw.org
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November 2019
Based on 2019 changes to the law, in our Nevada Orders for Protection Against Domestic Violence section, we made the following changes: 1) We added three additional criminal acts that could qualify someone for an order in What is the legal definition of domestic violence in Nevada? 2) We updated the relationship requirements in Who is eligible for an order for protection against domestic violence? 3) We clarified the basis for granting a temporary order in What is an order for protection against domestic violence? What types of orders are there? All changes made in English and Spanish.
Based on a new law that tolls protection order expiration dates when the abuser is in jail or prison, we added a new question to our Wyoming Restraining Orders section called, What happens to my protection order if the abuser goes to jail or prison?
Based on a 2019 change to the law that increased the length of time that a protection order can be extended (from one year to three years), we revised the information in two questions in our Wyoming Protection Orders section.
Based on 2019 changes to the law regarding the effect of voluntary admission into treatment on firearm possession, we updated two questions in our Connecticut State Gun Laws page in English and Spanish.
In Delaware, we added 8 statutes on lethal violence protective orders to the Selected Delaware Statutes page. More information coming soon!
October 2019
Based on a 2019 change to the law that added strangulation as a ground for an interpersonal protective order, we revised the information in two questions in our Kentucky Interpersonal Protective Orders section.
We added the crimes of strangulation in the first and second degrees to our Kentucky Crimes page.
Based on a 2019 change to the law that added strangulation as a ground for a protective order, we revised the question What is the legal definition of domestic violence in Kentucky? in our Kentucky Protective Orders / Domestic Violence Orders section.
We updated the contact information for Safe on Seven Domestic Violence Center (S.O.S.) on our North Carolina Local Programs page.
We added an Illinois Firearms Restraining Orders page in English and 9 corresponding statutes to the Selected Illinois Statutes page. Spanish translation coming soon!
We updated and reorganized our entire Domestic Violence in the Military section in English. This update involved rewriting many questions using new guidance that had been issued by the Department of Defense, updating outdated links, and adding new resources. Spanish coming soon!
We updated our Ohio State Gun Laws section in English, adding state-specific information to existing questions and reorganizing the entire section to make the information more accessible. We also added one related statutes to the Ohio Selected Statutes section. Spanish coming soon!
We updated the resources on our Nebraska Download Court Forms page.
On our Louisiana Restraining Orders page, we added the question What types of stalking protective orders are there? How long do they last?
On our Louisiana Restraining Orders page, we revised the question What types of sexual assault protective orders are there? How long do they last? to add information about the court process and how an order may be renewed.
We added the crimes of sex trafficking and forced marriage to our Maryland Crimes page in English and Spanish.
In our Maryland State Gun Laws page, we updated two questions based on changes to the law that expand the amount of crimes that are considered “crimes of violence” for firearm prohibition purposes. Changes were made in Spanish and English.
We added the crime of “nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images” to our Missouri Crimes page.
In our Maryland Custody section, we revised the question What is mediation? Is it ordered for victims of abuse? to add information about the process for parties to request a substitute mediator and to clarify how many hours the mediation can last. All changes were made in English and Spanish.
We added new links to custody-related court forms on our Idaho Custody page and new links to small claims court forms on our Idaho Suing an Abuser page.
We added the crime of “disclosing intimate images” to our Washington Crimes page iin English and Spanish and to the Selected Washington Statutes page in English.
Based on changes to the law, we revised the information in What is the legal definition of telephone harassment in Idaho? and What is the legal definition of malicious harassment in Idaho? in our Idaho Protection Orders Against Malicious Harassment, Stalking, and Telephone Harassment page.
We added the crime of “use of telephone to annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, harass or offend” to our Idaho Crimes page.
We updated the Iowa Elder Abuse Protective Orders page based on changes to the legal definition of a “vulnerable elder.”
Based on new laws, we added two new questions to our Indiana Firearms Seizure and Retention page called What happens if a dangerous individual possesses a gun after the judge removes his/her firearms? and Under what circumstances can the firearms be returned to the individual? We also revised the information in the question How are firearms removed from a dangerous individual under this law? For how long are they removed?. We added four related statutes to our Selected Indiana Statutes page.
Based on changes to Indiana law, we updated What types of order for protections are there? How long do they last? iin our Indiana Orders for Protection page to include information about not being able to get an ex parte order based only on harassment.
We added information on our Ohio Suing An Abuser page about suing in civil court if an abuser shares your private sexual images. We also added the corresponding statute to our Selected Ohio Statutes page.
We added the crime of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images to our Ohio Crimes page in Spanish and English.
We added a Vermont Extreme Risk Protection Orders page and 5 corresponding statutes to the Selected Vermont Statutes page.
September 2019
On our Ohio Places that Help page, we added descriptions of services and updated the contact information for 84 State and Local Programs and 25 Legal Services/Lawyer Referral Services. All updates were made in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for the 244 courthouses on our Texas Courthouse Locations page in English and Spanish.
We translated into Spanish our Oregon Sexual Abuse Protective Orders.
We translated into Spanish our Ohio Download Court Forms page.
We translated into Spanish our recently-updated Ohio Domestic Violence Protection Orders section.
We updated all 86 courthouses on our Ohio Courthouse Locations page in English and Spanish. We changed the contact information from the clerk’s office to the courts of common pleas and added each court’s website to make it easier for users to access the information that they need.
We updated all 26 resources on our Illinois Legal Assistance pages in English and Spanish!
We translated into Spanish our recently created District of Columbia Extreme Risk Protection Orders page.
We added a new section about Orders of Protection for Adults with Disabilities to our Illinois Restraining Orders page. Spanish coming soon!
Based on 2019 changes to the law, we added added four new questions about non-parent visitation in the Who can get custody and visitation section of our Illinois Custody page. Spanish coming soon!
Based on 2019 changes to the law, we added added two new questions about “equitable caregivers” and made one edit to a question about visitation in the Who can get custody and visitation section of our Georgia Custody page. We also added one related statute to our Selected State Statutes page. Spanish coming soon!
We translated into Spanish our Connecticut Local Programs.
Based on feedback from Loveisrespect, we made changes to our information and resources in Information for Teens and Young Adults in English ans Spanish!
We translated into Spanish over 200 organizations that are listed in our National Organizations page.
We added the crime of distribution of an intimate image to our Indiana Crimes page and Selected Indiana Statutes page.
With the help of ASISTA, we completely re-wrote our T Visa for Trafficking Victims page in English to make it even more plain-language than it already was! Spanish coming soon. We also added one related statute in English to our Selected Federal Statutes page.
We updated the Divorce information in Washington, in English and Spanish, by adding three new questions with information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements. We also added two related statutes to our Selected Washington Statutes page.
We added one new resource on our Chat Rooms and Message Boards page in English and Spanish.
We translated into Spanish our newly added Massachusetts Workplace Protections page.
We translated into Spanish our Massachusetts Extreme Risk Protection Orders page.
We translated into Spanish our newly created page on Elder Abuse under our Abuse in Specific Communities section.
Based on an email hotline response, we added the South Carolina statute on registering an out-of-state custody order to our Selected South Carolina Statutes page.
We updated the Divorce information in Virginia, in English and Spanish, by adding five new questions with information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements. We also added five related statutes to our Selected Virginia Statutes page.
We added ASISTA to our National Organizations - Immigration page in English and Spanish.
We updated the Divorce information in Oklahoma, in English and Spanish, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements, and added two related statutes to our Selected State Statutes page.
We added a New Mexico Custody section in our Legal Information section, and we also added ten related statutes to our New Mexico Selected Statutes section. The additions are in English and Spanish!
We added the crime of criminal stalking to our Indiana Crimes page and Selected Indiana Statutes page.
Based on July 2019 changes to the law, we updated multiple questions in our Indiana Orders for Protection (due to Domestic Violence) page. We included new grounds for which a child can get an order to multiple questions; we re-wrote the question called Can I get an order for protection if I’m a minor?; and we added a new question called Aside from domestic or family violence, what are the other reasons for which I can get an order for protection? to include the new ground of harassment as the basis for an order.
We translated into Spanish our newly updated question Who can get custody? in our New Jersey Custody page.
We translated into Spanish the new question How does an abuser give up his/her guns and ammunition? and the other two updated questions in our Colorado State Gun Laws page.
Based on 2019 changes to the laws, in our Illinois Orders of Protection section, we updated Who is eligible for an order of protection? to add information on the additional people who can be protected by an order. We also updated multiple questions in our Illinois Stalking No Contact Orders section to include that an authorized agent of a school, workplace, or house of worship can file for an order. All changes were made in English and Spanish.
We added a Litigation Abuse page in our About Abuse section in English and Spanish.
We updated all of our information and resources in Information for Teens and Young Adults in English – Spanish coming soon!
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding criminal statutes of limitation to our Selected Indiana Statutes page.
We added two new resources to our National Organizations - Military section in English and Spanish.
August 2019
At the bottom of every state’s Know the Laws - By State page, we added a link in English and Spanish to our Places that Help page for the state.
On our Georgia Crimes page, we updated the name of the crime that was formerly called “sexual assault” and is now called “improper sexual contact” based on a 2019 change to the law. Changes made in English and Spanish.
Based on a 2019 addition to Georgia’s laws, we added information in English and Spanish to our Georgia Custody page. Specifically, we added that blindness cannot be the reason that custody can is denied to a parent to the question How will a judge make a decision about custody?
We revised the content in the Ways to educate yourself section in English and Spanish. We also relocated it to our Court System Basics section to make it easier to find.
We added a District of Columbia Extreme Risk Protection Orders page in English and 5 corresponding statutes to the Selected District of Columbia Statutes page. Spanish translation coming soon!
Based on 2019 changes to the law, we added information to four questions in our D.C. State Gun Laws page in English and Spanish. We also hyperlinked various crimes that prohibit someone from getting a firearm to the definitions of those crimes to make the information easier to understand.
We added the crime of violation of an extreme risk protection order to our Selected D.C. Statutes page in English and to our D.C. Crimes page in English and Spanish.
We translated into Spanish our Ohio Stalking or Sexually Oriented Offense Protection Orders section in our Restraining Orders page.
In our New Jersey Custody page, we updated the question Who can get custody? in English. Spanish coming soon!
We translated into Spanish our Ohio Suing an Abuser page.
We translated into Spanish our Ohio Moving to Another State with Your Ohio Protection Order and the Enforcing an Out-of-State Order in Ohio sections.
We translated into Spanish our recently added a question called Is a step-child considered to be a child for the purposes of VAWA? in our VAWA for Abuse Victims page. We also translated it in our U Visa for Crime Victims page and T-Visa for Trafficking Victims page.
We translated into Spanish the information we recently added to the California Civil Harassment Orders section. We updated the questions Am I eligible to file for a civil harassment order? Who can I file against? and What protections can I get in a civil harassment order? and we also created a new question in both the Civil Harassment Orders section and the Domestic Violence Restraining Orders section called If I qualify for both a CHO and a DVRO, which one should I apply for?
We translated into Spanish our Oregon Extreme Risk Protection Orders section in our Restraining Orders page.
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding the division of property during divorce to our Selected California Statutes page.
We translated into Spanish our Reproductive Abuse and Coercion page on our Forms of Abuse section.
We translated into Spanish our District of Columbia section on Employment Discrimination on our Workplace Protections page.
We translated into Spanish or Maryland question Under what circumstances can I request that the court records be shielded from public view? in our Restraining Orders page.
We translated into Spanish the information we have in our Georgia Housing Laws.
We translated into Spanish our Ohio Crimes page.
We translated into Spanish our Ohio Custody page.
We translated into Spanish our Ohio Divorce page.
We updated the resources on our Michigan Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.
We updated the resources on our Ohio Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.
We updated the contact information for 72 courthouses on our Virginia Courthouse Locations page and added 170 new courthouses. All changes were made in English and Spanish.
We updated the resources on our Virginia Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.
In Illinois, we added nine new statutes on Firearm Restraining Orders to our Selected Illinois Statutes page.
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding modifying and discontinuing protection from abuse orders to our Selected Pennsylvania Statutes page.
We created a new page about Elder Abuse in English in Abuse in Specific Communities. Spanish coming soon!
In our Arkansas Domestic Violence Orders of Protection page, we added information to What can I do if the abuser violates the order? about affirmative defenses that an abuser can claim at trial regarding the petitioner’s actions. We also added possible penalties for a Class D felony violation. Changes made in English; Spanish soon to come. We also added two related statutes to our Selected Arkansas Statutes page in English and Spanish.
We created a new question called “How does an abuser give up his/her guns and ammunition?“ and updated two other questions in our Colorado State Gun Laws page. All changes in English, Spanish coming soon!
We updated the resources on our Oregon Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.
We added a question called “What happens if USCIS denies my U visa application?“ and updated four other questions in our U visa section based on recent directives and guidance from ICE, USCIS, and DHS. All changes in English, Spanish coming soon!
We translated into Spanish our Maryland Extreme Risk Protective Orders page.
We updated the resources on our Maryland Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added the definition of a “dating relationship” to the question Am I eligible to file for a DVRO? in our California Domestic Violence Restraining Orders section in English and Spanish.
We added a Massachusetts Workplace Protections page in English and one corresponding statute to our Selected Massachusetts Statutes page. Spanish translation coming soon!
We updated and revised seven more questions in our T-Visa for Trafficking Victims page in English. Spanish coming soon!
We updated the resources on our Chat Rooms and Message Boards page in English and Spanish.
July 2019
We added information to our Massachusetts Extreme Risk Protection Orders page in English. Spanish translation coming soon!
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding fee waivers to our Selected Indiana Statutes page.
We just published our Preparing for Court video blog series! This series is narrated in Spanish with English subtitles. They include information on things to consider and do before filing a court case, where and how to start your court case, what happens after you file, what to expect at a hearing or trial and how to prepare for it, and court-based examples illustrated by actors on how to make objections, admit evidence, and conduct direct and cross-examination.
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding paternity to our Selected Pennsylvania Statutes page.
We added 18 new courthouses and revised the contact information for 58 courthouses on our Massachusetts Courthouse Locations page in English and Spanish.
In our Ohio Custody page, we updated the links to the Ohio Bar Association in the question Where can I find more information about custody in Ohio?
We created a new page on Reproductive Abuse and Coercion in English in Forms of Abuse. Spanish coming soon!
We added an Oregon Extreme Risk Protective Orders page in English and 6 corresponding statutes to the Selected Oregon Statutes page. Spanish translation coming soon!
We translated into Spanish our Discovery Basics section. 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.
In Minnesota, we added a Housing Laws page with a short description of a law in Minnesota that allows certain tenants to end their lease. We will be adding more information to this page later.
We added a question called Is a step-child considered to be a child for the purposes of VAWA? in our VAWA for Abuse Victims page. We also added a similar question in our U Visa for Crime Victims page and T-Visa for Trafficking Victims page. All additions were made in English; Spanish soon to come.
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added the law that allows a victim of abuse to terminate a lease to our Selected Minnesota Statutes page.
In our T-Visa for Trafficking Victims section, we added information to What specific federally-funded benefits are available to me? about WIC and the five-year waiting period to get Medicaid and SCHIP. Changes made in English; Spanish coming soon.
In our Ohio Domestic Violence Protection Orders section, we updated Step 3: Service of process in The steps for obtaining a protection order.
In our California Civil Harassment Orders section, added information to the questions Am I eligible to file for a civil harassment order? Who can I file against? and What protections can I get in a civil harassment order? We also created a new question in both the Civil Harassment Orders section and the Domestic Violence Restraining Orders section called If I qualify for both a CHO and a DVRO, which one should I apply for? All changes were made in English; Spanish soon to come.
We updated our Domestic Violence page to include information about dating violence and changed its name to Domestic Violence/Dating Violence in English. Spanish translation coming soon!
We updated the laws and revised the information on our T-Visa for Trafficking Victims page in English. Spanish coming soon!
On our Safety Tips page, we added an introductory paragraph in order to define the term “safety plan.” The addition was made in English and Spanish.
We translated into Spanish the Moving to Another State with a Restraining Order and Enforcing your Out-of-State Order in Oregon.
June 2019
We translated into Spanish our recently updated Massachusetts Custody page.
We translated into Spanish our updated Immigration Asylum page.
We translated into Spanish our links to the rules of evidence for every state in which they are available in the section called Rules of Evidence (in English) on our Preparing for Court - By Yourself page.
We translated into Spanish our question What precautions should I take if I want to email a domestic violence program for help? on our Safety When Using Email page.
We translated into Spanish our Oregon Stalking Protection Orders page.
We updated the contact info and description of services for North Brooklyn Coalition Against Family Violence on our Advocates and Shelters page in English and Spanish. We also added it to our Finding a Lawyer page since they now offer direct representation.
On our New Hampshire Finding a Lawyer page, we updated the contact information and descriptions of services for three resources related to programs offered by the New Hampshire Bar Association.
We added Centro Multicultural La Familia to our Michigan Local Programs page in English and Spanish.
We updated the information in two questions on our Maryland State Gun Laws page based on changes to the law that added a conviction for firearms-related crimes as a reason to not prohibited from possess a firearm. All changes made in English and Spanish.
Based on changes to Maryland law that took effect October 2018, we updated What are the grounds for an absolute divorce in Maryland? and Can I get an absolute divorce if my spouse agrees to the divorce? in our Maryland Divorce section. Changes were made in English and Spanish.
On our Arizona Download Court Forms page, we updated links to forms on the Arizona courts website in both Spanish and English.
In our Maryland Domestic Violence Protective Orders page, we created a new question called Under what circumstances can I request that the court records be shielded from public view? in English; Spanish soon to come! We also added the related statute to our Selected Maryland Statutes page.
Based on October 2018 changes to Maryland law, we updated What is the legal definition of domestic abuse in Maryland? in our Maryland Domestic Violence Protective Orders page to include “revenge porn” as a reason that a victim could qualify for an order. We also updated How do I change or extend my protective order? based on the new requirements to get a new permanent order after one’s current order expires.
In our Massachusetts Abuse Prevention Orders page, we revised the question What types of abuse prevention orders are there? How long do they last? to clarify that orders can be extended for a “permanent” length of time.
We updated the contact information in English and Spanish for Goodman Jewish Family Services (JFS) of Broward on our Florida Local Programs page.
We updated the links to court forms through the Idaho Courts website on our Idaho Download Court Forms page.
In our Idaho Divorce page, we updated links to outside resources on the Idaho Courts website in the question Where can I find additional information about divorce in Idaho?
May 2019
We revised the question Can I get alimony? in our Ohio Divorce page to clarify that spousal support can be issued on a temporary basis while a divorce is pending.
We completely re-wrote our Abuse in Tribal Communities page in English. Spanish coming soon! We also added two related statutes to our Selected Federal Statutes page.
After realizing that our Safety in Court and Safety with an Abuser pages were inadvertently blank, we added content to both pages in English and Spanish. We also updated links on our Safety in a Confidential Address page in English and Spanish,
Where we previously had a brief description of the law, we now created a new Georgia Housing Laws page to further explain a victim’s right to terminate a lease due to domestic violence.. Changes made in English; Spanish soon to come.
On our Maryland Crimes page, we added the crimes of visual surveillance, camera surveillance, and sextortion in English and Spanish. We also added the related statutes to our Selected Maryland Statutes page in English.
Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a statute to our Selected Georgia Statutes page regarding investigations of and arrests in incidents of family violence.
In our Maryland Peace Orders section, we updated the question in English and Spanish called What acts of abuse would qualify me for a peace order? to add an additional six crimes that could qualify someone for an order. This change because effective in 2016. We very much regret the error in not updating our website sooner.
On our South Dakota Download Court Forms page, we updated the links to court forms on the South Dakota courts website, adding links to small claims, modifying child support, and more. We also updating the link to divorce court forms on our South Dakota Divorce page.
We updated the link to the Crime Victims’ Compensation Program on our South Dakota Crimes page.
We updated the contact information for two bar associations on our Florida Lawyer Referral Service page in English and Spanish.
We updated the links to outside sources on our Oklahoma Divorce page.