Restraining Orders

[USE THIS IF THERE IS NO MENTION OF AN RO: Generally, if there is no protection order in place but someone doesn’t feel safe going into a home where s/he was staying to retrieve belongings, in some states, the police will do what they call a civil stand-by where the police will wait outside or accompany the person into the home. However, not all states will do this without some sort of court order. If there is domestic violence and it is not safe for the person to enter the home unaccompanied, even with the police nearby, this may not be a safe option - the victim may want to bring a trusted friend or family member to accompany him/her. Also, if there could be a dispute (disagreement) as to who owns the property, the person may want to check with a lawyer first to make sure that s/he wouldn’t be accused of any sort of criminal act by entering a home and removing belongings without the other homeowner/resident’s knowledge or consent. Often times, the safest way to retrieve one’s belongings or those of his/her children when there is domestic violence is to file for a protection order in court and specifically ask the judge to order police to escort the victim back to the home to retrieve the belongings on a specific date and time - and even to list the belongings that the person is going to retrieve so there is no dispute.]

[USE THIS IF THERE IS AN RO IN PLACE: Although I do not know how this is usually done in STATE, some states’ law enforcement agencies may allow a victim to come in with his/her order and ask for an escort to the home to retrieve belongings. In other states, there may need to be a specific term in the protection order where the judge instructs law enforcement to accompany the victim on a certain date/time. Often times when someone leaves the home and has a protection order against the person remaining in the home, the judge will include a term in the order that the petitioner can get the sheriff or local law enforcement to accompany the petitioner back to his/her home to retrieve personal belongings. If an order doesn’t have anything of this sort, sometimes the petitioner can ask for this to be added on his/her next court date or if s/he cannot wait this long, s/he may file something to get back into court sooner to modify the order to ask to add this term. If you are not sure if your order includes this, or if you want advice on how to add this to your order, you may want to try to talk to a lawyer. Here is a link for free and paid lawyers:STATE]

[INCLUDE THE REST IN BOTH SCENARIOS: When a person has to arrange for large items to be removed, which could take significant time, I am not sure if police on a civil stand-by would deal with this sort of situation - you may want to ask your local law enforcement if you plan to seek their help in this way. When there is a protection order in place, often times, judges may not get into dividing up property where there could be a dispute about ownership. If one person says that the items are his/hers and the other person denies it, the judge would not be able to make a decision on who is the proper owner without holding a whole hearing on the matter. Therefore, judges will often just deal with the immediate items that a person may need when fleeing a home. If someone is going to ask the judge to allow removal of larger items that s/he brought into a shared home, it may be helpful if s/he has proof (such as receipts) to show that the items were purchased prior to living together (if that is the case). You may want to ask an attorney whether or not the judge might be willing to address this issue if you were to go back to court. Here is a link for attorneys, including free legal services:LINK

In addition, another way that someone may get property back from someone who is not entitled to it is through small claims court, if the items are within the monetary value that the court can handle. Here is information on small claims court in STATE if you want to read about it: LINK] If the parties are married, however, the issue may have to be dealt with as part of a divorce.

Also, in case it is useful, her is a link with more information about restraining orders in STATE: LINK