Restraining Orders

A temporary ex parte order of protection and a permanent order of protection can do the following:

• order the respondent to stop harassing, abusing, threatening, using or attempting to use physical force or cause bodily injury to the you and/or your minor child/ren
• order the respondent to have no communication with you and/or your children, either directly or indirectly;
• order the respondent to stay 500 feet away from you and/or the minor child/ren; and to stay away from your home, your place of employment, and your school;
• award you temporary custody of your children (in a temporary order) or permanent custody (in a permanent order);
• allow the respondent to have visitation or prohibit all visitation;
• order the respondent to not interfere with your temporary custody of the minor child/ren and/or to not remove them from Guam;
• if the home is jointly owned or leased by you and the abuser, giving you exclusive possession of the family home by evicting the respondent or, if you already left the home, you can be restored to the home (put back in);¹
• if the home is owned or leased solely by the respondent, the judge can still give you exclusive possession of the family home by evicting the respondent or, if you already left the home, you can be restored to the home (put back in) but only if the respondent has a legal duty to support you or your minor children who were living in the residence. (Note: Another possibility, if both parties agree, is that the judge can approve an agreement that would allow the respondent to remain in the home but to provide you with suitable, alternative housing);²
• order the respondent to pay certain costs and fees, such as rent or mortgage payments, child support, medical and dental costs, court costs, or attorneys fees;
• give you use of a vehicle or other personal possessions; and
• order the abuser to temporarily or permanently surrender any kind of weapon or instrument that could cause harm or injury if it were in the possession of the respondent.¹Note: If the judge finds “probable cause” to do so, the judge is supposed to require the respondent to immediately surrender all firearms and/or ammunition to the Marshal of the Court, or to another other law enforcement officer. “Probable cause” can come from the allegations you made in your petition and affidavit or from evidence presented at hearing. In addition, the judge can issue to the Marshal any search warrants that are necessary to obtain the weapons and ammunition.³

¹ MR 2.1.4
² 7 Guam Code § 40105(a)(3)
³ MR 2.1.8(A)(1),(2)