Under California Family Code 6203, abuse means:

1. Intentionally or recklessly to cause or attempt to cause bodily injury.
2. Sexual assault.
3. To place a person in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury to that person or to another.

The Court can may an emergency initial order called Temporary Restraining Order valid for two weeks without prior notice to the accused party. The accused party is generally served with the Temporary Restraining Papers that indicates a court hearing date.

The Restraining Order allows police to arrest the person who violates it. It may lead to criminal misdemeanor charges. In California, the issued Restraining Orders, are entered into the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS). It allows the police to access the Judge's order preventing certain activity when they receive a telephone call. As soon as you are served with a Temporary Restraining Order you should call one of our attorneys for a consultation about your rights.

The accused party is entitled to one continuance in court to find an attorney to defend and prove their innocence. The sooner you have a restraining order attorney look at your court papers the better prepared you will be for court.

The Court when issuing the restraining order may order the party to not:

• Molest, attack, strike, stalk, threaten, sexually assault, batter, harass, call, destroy personal property, contact directly or indirectly, coming close to, or disturb the peace of the other party.

In the Domestic Restraining Order case the court grant the protected party the exclusive control, possession and use of any property or animal.

When the parties have children the consequences are greater. The protected party could be granted the sole legal custody of the children. The accused part may end up with zero visitation, and be ordered to pay child and spousal support. The battle in court after a restraining order gets more complicated, frustrating, and more expensive if one is granted. The consequences are serious. Take action now.

The family law attorneys at The Law Office of Ilona Antonyan are well-versed in Domestic Violence Restraining Order cases. If you have been served with a restraining order, or feel that you need one to protect yourself and your kids from someone give us a call. We may be able to negotiate a win-win situation where the victim feels adequately protected and accused party does not suffer the extreme consequences of having a Restraining Order against him or her. We'll be there for you during this stressful time and fight for you. Call 619-696-1100.