Will Obtaining A Restraining Order Against My Spouse Help Me In My Divorce?

Depending on the type and purpose, a restraining order against your spouse may help you in your divorce. When married couples decide to divorce, one spouse must file a petition to dissolve the marriage with the appropriate court. The spouse that files the petition is the petitioner; the other spouse is the respondent. The petitioner must serve the petition to the respondent to give notice that a divorce case has begun. After the service of the petition to the respondent, a restraining order automatically goes into effect by Oregon law. The restraining order remains effective until a final judgment dissolves the marriage or unless the court makes a further order.

Once the divorce case begins, Oregon law restrains the petitioner and respondent from specific actions. State law protects both spouses by preventing each party from misusing or destroying property that the court must distribute between the parties. The spouses cannot change, cancel or stop paying insurance premiums covering a spouse or minor children at the time of service of the petition nor change the policies' beneficiaries. Neither party may transfer, sell, hide or destroy property that the other party may have a legal interest in unless the other spouse or the court consents. The order also prevents spouses from spending extraordinary amounts of money without giving the other spouse notice and an account of the expenses.

The Oregon Family Abuse Prevention Act allows victims of abuse to obtain a restraining order from domestic violence. If a spouse in a divorce case abuses or threaten to abuse the other spouse, the victim spouse may file a petition with the court. The accuser must show that the abuse occurred within the previous 180 days, that there is an immediate danger of further abuse, and that the accused appears to be a credible threat to the accuser's safety. The order lasts for one year unless the court dismisses or cancels it before it expires. If you file for a domestic abuse restraining order and the court grants it, you may receive temporary custody of the children. However, your spouse may receive parenting time with the children. Your spouse may also seek a hearing to terminate the restraining order, change child custody or modify parenting time. The restraining order cannot help to assign fault to a spouse. Oregon is a no-fault divorce state. Therefore, the only ground for divorce is irreconcilable differences. The spouses only have to show that the differences caused a breakdown of the marriage beyond repair.