Can A Child Protective Order Be Amended Or Removed?

Yes, you can file a motion to amend or remove a child protective order. But the provisions regarding removal of a protective order or dismissal, regarding the statutes, are less. In an adult protective order, the statute regarding amending or dismissing it, spells out very clearly that it must be done. The child protective order statute does not. The court will likely determine that it has the discretion to amend the child protective order for good cause shown, but the process for getting it dismissed is much less clear. It will probably be because once the court has determined grounds for the entry of a protective order and it is present, it sets the date by which it will expire.

Then the courts rule on when it will expire. It is ruled that this is the date it will be dismissed in advance. So the best tactic there would be to file a motion to amend the expiration date of the child protective order and ask the court to amend the previous ruling as to when it would expire.

Does A Judge Decide If The Protective Order Is To Be Amended Or Dismissed Or Can The Parent Have A Say In It?

The petitioner, who obtains the child protective order, can stipulate, or in other words agree, to removal of the child protective order. If they do, then each side signs a stipulation and a proposed order dismissing a protective order to the court. If both sides agree, the court will generally sign it as well. In fact, any respondent in a protective order should be very wary of any offer by the petitioner or anybody else to allow contact between themselves and the child unless the protective order has formally been dismissed.

A child protective order may allow limited contact with the child under some circumstances (e.g. supervised visitation). Let us suppose that the petitioner in the protective order offers to say, “We don’t need supervision anymore; let’s just give you a parent time or contact with the child without a supervisor present”, the respondent should not do so, because it is still technically a crime. On a number of occasions I have witnessed attempts by a petitioner to lure the respondent into making that mistake and then calling the police to have them arrested for violation of the protective order.

How Do You Help Clients To Focus In A Child Protective Order Scenario?

If it has reached the point where the child has been abused, neglected or they are abused physically or sexually or where they are defending themselves against those allegations, the motivation is inherently there. I do not necessarily have to motivate them to move in the right direction. What I do instead rather is to give them instructions, to first identify, short term goals; long term goals, if use of a child protective order makes sense.

I give them instructions on what evidence to gather, how to gather it, and what timeframes are needed and step by step directions as to what to do to either get the protective order instituted and to prepare for the protective order hearing in the case if I am representing a petitioner. If I am representing the respondent, then we discuss how to prepare for the hearing in order to defend themselves against the allegations, if the allegations are false. But if the allegations are true, I will often engage in negotiations with the other side to help satisfy the petitioner’s concerns, and work with my client to sort out those concerns for any need for supervision or limited contact as quickly as possible, in a way that is advantageous to the respondent.

It is mainly just a step by step instruction. I help draft pleadings, prepare witnesses, and prepare parties for re-examination and cross-examination. If the case cannot be resolved, then we will go through the litigation process.

Can Someone Handle A Child Protective Order Case Without An Experienced Family Law Attorney?

Many times I have witnessed people handle a protective order without proper representation. It happens all the time. They make the attempt, but they are severely disadvantaged if they do not have an experienced family law attorney to support them. Oftentimes the results that they are seeking do not come to fruition because they lack of knowledge of how to proceed with the case. It is highly recommended that an experienced family law attorney that is specifically experienced in handling child protective orders and is familiar with both district court and juvenile court be on hand to assist.

Parent Respondents Should Have As Much Contact With Their Child As Possible

If you are a parent of the child, and you have a child protective order against you, don’t say to yourself: “Fine. I’m just not going to see the child. When the child wants to see me, maybe I’ll wait six months till this is dismissed or 5 months or whatever.” That is a bad idea because there is case law in the state of Utah that say that unless you do everything that you can to resolve a child protective order and to have as much contact with your child as possible, even though there is a child protective order in place, you might be considered to be abandoning your child. Abandonment is grounds for termination of your parental rights in our state.

If you have a protective order against you, you should do everything you can to get it removed either by engaging in the treatment necessary, and complying with any medical recommendations from any evaluator. For example, if it is physical abuse and the respondent has an anger problem, then they should enter in to an anger management program. If it is a domestic violence evaluation, then comply with the treatment recommendations, and then show up to the court with those treatment recommendations saying, “Look, I’ve done this. Can we amend the protective order to allow me to have more contact?”

In the meantime, whenever contact is allowed, that should be taken advantage of. But from time to time, I see a respondent who gets disgusted that there is a protective order against them and decides to punish the other party or punish the child passively by choosing to have no contact with the child. It can create grounds for abandonment, and I have seen parental rights terminated for that reason.
Additional Information Re: Child Protective Orders

PROTECTIVE ORDERS (B) CHILD