By Dale Riedel, Esq. · Admitted in New York, Bar No. 5837539
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. This article explains a legal process. It is not a substitute for emergency help.
Answer
A New York order of protection can direct someone to stay away from you, stop all contact, leave a shared home, and surrender firearms. It is obtained by filing a family offense petition in Family Court, and a judge can issue a temporary order the same day, before the other person is notified.
What it can require
Depending on the circumstances, an order can direct a person to:
- Stay away from you, your home, your workplace, and your children’s school
- Refrain from all contact — in person, by phone, by text, through social media, or through third parties
- Leave a shared residence, even one they have a right to occupy
- Surrender firearms
- Follow a specific custody or parenting arrangement
How you get one
You file a family offense petition in Family Court. Two things have to be present: a qualifying relationship, and a qualifying offense.
The relationship requirement covers current or former spouses, people related by blood or marriage, people who have a child together, and people who are or have been in an intimate relationship. An intimate relationship does not require living together.
The offense has to be one of a specific list defined by statute rather than a general standard of bad behavior — harassment, stalking, menacing, assault, reckless endangerment, and strangulation offenses among others (FCA §812(1)).
A judge can issue a temporary order the same day you file, based on your petition alone. It typically stays in effect until the court changes it or decides the case. After the other party is served and appears, the matter is resolved by agreement or proceeds to a hearing.
How long it lasts
A final order generally runs up to two years, or up to five where the court finds aggravating circumstances or a violation of a valid order of protection (FCA §842).
What it does not do
It is not a physical barrier. It is a legal instrument that creates consequences for violation. If you are in danger, the order is not a substitute for calling the police.
It does not resolve custody on its own, though it can set the terms of contact with children and a family offense finding is relevant in a custody case.
It does not expire quietly. It ends on its date, and if the circumstances persist, an extension has to be sought.
If an order has been sought against you
Take it seriously from the first day.
A final order can remove you from your home, restrict contact with your children, require you to surrender firearms, and affect employment in any field requiring background clearance.
Violating it can be prosecuted as a crime — including contact the protected person invited. The order binds the person it is issued against, not the person it protects, so the fact that they reached out first is not a defense. This catches people constantly.
A violation can also be brought back to Family Court on a violation petition. Either way, the consequences fall on the person the order restrains.
And consenting to an order “just to make it go away” is a decision with consequences that outlast the case. It should be made with advice, not in a hallway.
The short version
A temporary order can issue the same day. A final order can run two years, or five with aggravating circumstances or a prior violation. A violation can be prosecuted as a crime — including when the protected person initiates the contact.
Read more: Orders of Protection · Child Custody & Visitation · Child Welfare Defense