Family Abuse Restraining Order (FAPA)

If you're an adult, you can get a restraining order against:  

Yes, in some situations. A minor can get a FAPA against their:

• Spouse or ex-spouse 
• Someone they had a sexual relationship with

But the other person must be an adult! You can't get a FAPA restraining order against a minor. 

You may qualify for a FAPA restraining order if someone has recently: 

• Hit, punched, shoved, or pushed you
• Choked or strangled you
• Thrown things at you
• Tried to hit you with a car
• Driven recklessly with you in a car trying to scare you
• Used a gun or other weapon to scare you
• Threatened to kill you or hurt you
• Forced you to have unwanted sex
• Punched walls or damaged your house during a fight
• Broken your things during a fight
• Said or done things that made you afraid you were about to be hurt

Most likely no. FAPA restraining orders only protect people from physical violence and sexual assault. 

If you are a person with a disability, or a person over 65, you may qualify for the Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities Restraining Order. This restraining order can protect people from verbal and financial abuse.  

A FAPA order can tell the person abusing you to:

• Not contact you
• Stay away from your home, work, or other places you go often
• Move out of your shared home
• Pay you emergency money to help you stay safe
• Give you back your pet if you’re worried the other person will hurt your pet
• Not have guns or ammunition

You can also ask a judge for other protections to help you stay safe. If the other person does not follow your FAPA restraining order, you can call the police for help. 

Every FAPA restraining order is different. You can choose which protections you need to stay safe. For example, you may want the other person to be able to contact you by phone, but not see you in person or come to your house.     

Yes. A judge can make the other person move out of your home if you can answer yes to at least one of these questions:    

• Are you married to the person who is hurting you?  
• Is your name on the lease or rental agreement?  
• Do you own the home you are living in?  

Yes. A FAPA restraining order can:  

• Give you temporary custody of the kids you have with the other person
• Include rules for when the other parent sees your kids
• Have rules to keep you safe at pick-ups and drop-offs
• Require the other parent to have supervised visits if it’s not safe for them to be alone with your kids
• Tell the other parent they can’t use drugs or alcohol when they’re with your kids
• Tell the other parent to stay away from your kid’s school or childcare
• Tell the other parent not to contact you through your kids

Domestic violence organizations in some counties provide free supervised parenting time and supervised exchanges. To see if this help is available where you live, talk with your local domestic violence resource center.

But you can't get a restraining order if you are only worried for your kids' safety and not your own.  

No. The no-contact rules only apply to the person the order is against. 

However, contacting the other person is usually not a good idea. If you do this, a judge might not think you're really afraid of them. This can make it harder to keep your restraining order if you have to go back to court for a contested hearing.

However, if your FAPA restraining order includes a temporary plan for your children, you must follow that plan. 

Maybe. After you get your restraining order, you may have to go back to court for a contested hearing. A contested hearing is a court date where both sides get to talk to a judge. At this hearing, both sides can present evidence and argue their case to the judge. You will have a contested hearing if one of these things is true:  

• A judge automatically schedules this hearing. If a judge wants more information before making a temporary plan for your kids, the judge can automatically schedule a hearing. On your court papers, this hearing will be called an exceptional circumstances hearing, but it is the same thing as a contested hearing.      
• The other side requests a hearing. If a judge doesn’t set a hearing, you will only have one if the other person disagrees with your restraining order and requests a hearing. The other person has 30 days from when they get a copy of your order to request a hearing.  

For more information on contested hearings, visit the contested hearings page. 

You can ask the court to end your restraining order early (this is called dismissing your order) by turning in forms with the court. You can find the forms to dismiss a Family Abuse Restraining Order on Oregon's state court website or at your local circuit court.

Yes, you can change (modify) your restraining order. There are two ways to change your FAPA restraining order:

• At a contested restraining order hearing. If you have a contested hearing, you can ask the judge to make changes at this hearing. For more information on contested hearings, visit the contested hearings page.    
• By turning in a separate application. You can also ask to change your restraining order by submitting an application to the court. You can get a copy of this application on the Oregon Judicial Department website or at your local circuit court. Each county has a different process for changing a restraining order. Call your local courthouse for more information. Remember that the other side can request a hearing if they disagree with your changes. 

You can ask the court to extend your restraining order for two more years. This is called "renewing" your restraining order. You can find the forms to dismiss a Family Abuse Restraining Order on the Oregon Judicial Department website or at your local circuit court. 

If you want to extend your restraining order, you must turn in a renewal application before your restraining order ends. The other side can disagree by asking for another court hearing with a judge.  

The custody order in your FAPA restraining order is only temporary. It will eventually go away.  

In most cases, your temporary custody order lasts as long as you have your restraining order. But your temporary custody order can end early if either:  

• You get long-term custody in a separate divorce or custody case  
• A judge writes an expiration date for your temporary custody order on your restraining order. (A judge can only do this if your restraining order changed a prior custody order.) 

You may call the police. The police must arrest the other person if they have enough evidence that the other person disobeyed your order.   

If you don’t call the police, you should keep evidence of the violation. You may need this if you decide to call the police later.