Five Reasons to Consider Getting a Restraining Order During a Divorce

If you are considering getting divorced from your spouse and have experienced domestic abuse from them, a restraining order (also known as an order of protection) may be able to help you. Not only can it help to protect you from your spouse, but it can have a number of other important benefits in your divorce case. Here are five reasons you should consider getting a restraining order during your divorce:

1. It can deter your spouse from committing future violence
   • The biggest reason to get a restraining order is to prevent your spouse from committing violence against you or your loved ones. So long as the order of protection is in place, they are limited from coming within a certain distance of you, and can be arrested for doing so. This means you can live in relative peace, knowing your spouse must maintain their distance from you and your home.
2. You can keep your spouse away from your school or workplace
   • A restraining order does not just protect you at home, however. It can also have terms to prevent your spouse from approaching your school or workplace, to ensure you can work or pursue an education without fear. If your spouse does choose to violate the order by approaching your school or workplace, they can be arrested immediately.
3. You can prevent harassment and other unwanted communication
   • Restraining orders do not just potentially protect against being approached physically. They can also be used to prohibit unwanted communications, whether by phone call, text message, email, social media, or any other form of contact. This helps to limit harassment from your spouse, who might otherwise try to make your life more difficult by threatening you or harassing you from afar.
4. It can make it easier to prevent your spouse from getting custody
   • Aside from those benefits, however, there’s also the benefit a restraining order can have for your divorce case. Namely, it is much more difficult for someone to get custody or visitation rights over their children when there is a restraining order against them for domestic abuse. This can make it much more likely that you will get custody instead, helping to protect your children from being abused by your spouse.
5. It can make you look more favorable in equitable distribution decisions
   • The court takes a large number of factors into consideration when determining how to divide marital property in a divorce dispute. While most of these factors are economic in nature (how much each spouse makes, how much in expenses they have, what their standard of living is, etc.), a judge may also take into account factors like alleged abuse or neglect. This means that taking out a restraining order could also mean a more favorable outcome when the marital property is distributed.

If you have questions regarding child custody or other aspects of family law, you should seek advice from an attorney experienced in handling these matters. A New York matrimonial lawyer, who is experienced in handling family law cases of all sorts, can advise you of your legal rights and will fight for your best interests in court. If you are facing a dispute related to the equitable distribution of property, child custody, child support, or any other family law issue, contact the Suffolk County family court lawyers at McGuire, Peláez and Bennett at (631) 348-1702 or visit our contact page for more information.