People often come to our law firm looking for information about how to prevent someone from contacting them because they are being harassed or fear for their safety. One of the major ways the Court deals with these situations is through the issuance of a protective order. There are many different types of protective orders ranging from family abuse protective orders to criminal protective orders. The various types of protective orders are addressed in a separate post.

However, there have been some changes to protective orders that you need to be aware of if you are seeking protection through the court. So what are these new changes?

1. Electronic Passwords - Courts have traditionally been limited in protective order cases to granting no contact against someone else or allowing access to certain family property. This has caused problems for accessing bank accounts or social media to prevent financial abuse. A new law has been passed that allows someone seeking a protective order to obtain passwords for electronic accounts. The same law can prevent surveillance of electronic activity associated with these accounts.

2. Increased access to protective order extensions - Another new law that has been passed makes it easier to extend protective orders. Prior to the new law, there were a lot of requirements that you had to meet to extend a protective order. Protective orders would naturally expire after a period of time set by the Court.

   The new law allows for a written request to extend protective orders and serve the other party with that written request for extension. The court has new powers based upon how the request is received to extend the protective order longer.

3. Law Enforcement Filing - Law enforcement now has the ability to request the issuance or extension of a family abuse protective order on behalf of a child. This is a useful tool for law enforcement if they believe a parent is not properly extending a protective order.

These major three changes are just a short list of some of the new laws impacting protective orders. If you or a loved one are seeking court protection from a dangerous person, our firm would be happy to help you.