Legal Information: Massachusetts

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
December 3, 2018

Who is eligible for a harassment prevention order?

Any person who is being harassed can file for a harassment prevention order. It does not matter who the person harassing you is. It can be a stranger, someone you know, an intimate partner, a friend, or family member.1

However, if the person harassing you is a spouse, intimate partner, or a family or household member, you may want to consider getting an abuse prevention order instead. With an abuse prevention order, the judge can include a lot more types of protections than in a harassment prevention order.

1 See M.G.L.A. 258E § 1

Next: What type of harassment prevention orders are there? How long do they last?
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