There is a second way protect your safety and the safety of your kids. Depending on the family situation, the TRO can include a temporary visitation or parenting schedule to see the children with designated locations for pick-up and drop-offs. However, you can request a temporary order of sole custody, and even a risk assessment to evaluate the risk of harm, or potential for harm to the children from the alleged abuser.
Depending on the circumstances, the court can prevent all contact between the alleged abuser and a child, or can allow supervised visitation, pending the outcome of the risk assessment or further investigation. Regardless of what the court initially orders, you may also want to file a separate motion, another type of application in family court for custody.
You also don’t have to be married to the other parent or seek a divorce in order to do this. Your attorney can advise you how to best proceed.
Bari Zell Weinberger is the owner and managing partner of Weinberger Law Group in New Jersey. She is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney.
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