In Oregon, we have a statute called the Family Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA). Basically, it’s only available for family members; therefore, the person has to be your spouse or domestic partner or your former spouse or domestic partner, or you could be adults related by blood, marriage, or adoption. That’s when it’s like a father-and-son type situation, or you could be cohabiting in a sexually intimate relationship or you could be the parents of a child together.
That’s kind of who you have to be as parties to a FAPA restraining order, and then you have to prove that within the last 180 days, which is the last six months, that this person caused you bodily injury, attempted to cause you bodily injury, placed you in fear of imminent bodily injury, or caused you to engage in involuntary sexual relations. Those are the things that you have to prove. The final thing you have to prove is that you’re still in imminent danger of further abuse by that person, which is why you need the restraining order.
Laura Schantz is a family law attorney and mediator practicing in Beaverton, Oregon. To learn more about Laura Schantz and her firm, Schantz Law P.C., visit www.oregondivorceattorney.com.
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