English
EspañolA asks if he can file to vacate RO (not sure if A is petitioner or resp)
[TAKE OUT FIRST SENTENCE IF YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT HE IS RESPONDENT: I am not sure if you are the petitioner or respondent on this order. In general, a petitioner may be able to file to drop an order and it is up to judge to decide whether or not to do so. A judge does have the right, in general, to refuse to vacate (dismiss) an order. LOOK IN THE AFTER THE HEARING SECTION TO SEE IF WE HAVE A QUESTION ON HOW CAN I TO VACATE/DISMISS THE ORDER? - IF SO, LINK TO IT
Although I cannot speak to STATE’s laws, generally, when someone misses a court date (known as a default), generally a default judgment can be issued against the respondent and the petitioner generally may get whatever s/he is asking for in court by just presenting the basic facts to the judge. Generally, in some cases, a person may be able to file a motion to remove a default judgment and re-open the court case if s/he can prove an excusable default (a good reason as to why s/he missed the court date) and a meritorious defense (that s/he had a valid legal defense to the case against him/her). Also, a person may be able to ask the judge to “stay the execution” of the order, meaning that the order should not be enforced until the case can be reopened. Your son may want to talk to a lawyer to see if this may be an option for him or not. If you are the respondent, generally a respondent has the opportunity to contest (fight) the order at a hearing before a final order is issued. I am not sure what the law may allow, if anything, after the order is issues and the respondent wants it dismissed. Some states may allow this type of request after a certain number of years have passed, for example. Other states allow the respondent to file a motion to court to ask that it be vacated if s/he can prove that there is no possible danger to the petitioner or meet some other specific legal standard - other states do not allow this option. (LOOK IN THE AFTER THE HEARING SECTION TO SEE IF WE HAVE ANY INFO ON THE RESPONDENT BEING ABLE TO FILE TO DISMISS THE ORDER - IF SO, LINK TO THAT). I do not know whether or not this is possible in STATE or not but a lawyer who handles orders of protection should be able to advise you on this. Here is a link to lawyers:LINK
