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Asked 11 months ago - Vancouver, WA
FlagIn May my husband was charged with a felony assault against my son, two counts of DV assault against me and another DV criminal mischeif charge. My son and myself both got granted temporary protection orders. My husband and I are divorcing, I am Pro Se because all family finances were cut off and he has a lawyer. His lawyer is trying to merge the order of protection into the Family Law case as a mutual restraining order. We had court today in Superior Court and that judge is going to allow that to happen. We also have another court date in Family Court this friday supposedly to sign off on that judgement. I do not want the order of protection merged into a divorce restraining order. My husband is a police officer and highly dangerous, he is losing his job over this. Do I have options?
The importance of having a DV Order of Protection is it is on file with the police and enforceable if he violates it by the police. I would not let that go. I imagine there is also a criminal no contact order issued by the court in the criminal case prohibiting contact with you as the victims.
However, if you have temporary orders re: no contact in the divorce case, the court often does those as mutual orders so both parties are protected and keeps things peaceful.
If he has any source of money, you may ask for the court to award you temporary attorney's fees, child support and spousal support. You may also contact your county's Family Law Court Facilitator, who can help with the froms and procedure. The forms are also on the Washington state courts website under court forms, ending the marriage
I am a lawyer but also work with domestic violence offenders. I strongly suggest that you call the Safe Choice program at the YWCA and also talk to the victims' advocate at the prosecutor's office. You might be safer at a shelter and, depending on the severity of the situation, considering the option of a move and ID change might not be unreasonable. Please keep yourself and your children safe.
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