Emergency Orders of Protection During Divorce

If your spouse has hurt you, threatened you, or frightened your children, you can ask a court for an emergency order of protection today, often the same day, without your spouse being there and without paying a filing fee. The judge can order them to stay away, stop contacting you, move out of the home, and in many states leave the children with you for now. The order is short. It holds things in place until a full hearing, usually within a few weeks, where both of you can be heard.

If you are in danger right now, call 911. For confidential help with a safety plan, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (1-800-799-SAFE), text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline.org. It is free and answered 24 hours a day. An advocate there can tell you how protection orders work where you live and help you think through the first night, the kids, and the next morning.

What an emergency order is (and what your state calls it)

Every state has some version of a fast, temporary protection order. The names differ, which confuses a lot of parents searching at midnight:

• Emergency order of protection in Illinois and some other states.
• Ex parte order or temporary order of protection in many states. “Ex parte” just means the judge heard only your side.
• Temporary restraining order (TRO) in California and elsewhere.
• Emergency protective order (EPO) in California, which a police officer requests from an on-call judge, any hour of the day.

Whatever the name, the pattern is the same. You ask, a judge reads your sworn statement, and if the judge believes you are in danger, the order is signed before the other person is told. The respondent (the person the order is against) then gets served and gets a hearing date to tell their side.

Because the details really do vary, check your state’s rules. Good starting points are your state court’s self-help pages, such as the California courts’ domestic violence restraining order guide or Illinois Legal Aid Online’s order of protection FAQ. The hotline can point you to the right page for your state.

How long an emergency order lasts

Short, on purpose. It is a bridge to a full hearing, not the final word. A few real examples show how much this varies:

• Illinois: an emergency order of protection lasts 14 to 21 days. A plenary (full) order, issued after a hearing, can last up to two years and can be extended (750 ILCS 60/220).
• California: a police-requested EPO ends at the close of the fifth court day or the seventh calendar day after it is issued, whichever comes first (Family Code 6256). It cannot be renewed, so you file for a temporary restraining order before it runs out. A judge usually rules on a TRO the same day or the next business day, and a final order after the hearing can last up to five years.
• Texas: after an arrest for family violence, a magistrate can issue an order for emergency protection that lasts 61 to 91 days, or 91 to 121 days if a deadly weapon was used or shown (Code of Criminal Procedure art. 17.292).

Write the expiration date somewhere you will see it. If the hearing gets moved, ask the clerk whether your temporary order was extended to the new date, and get a copy that says so.

What the order can do

Judges have a menu. What you get depends on your state and on what you ask for, so ask for everything you actually need. Common terms include:

• No abuse, threats, harassment, or stalking.
• No contact: no calls, texts, social media, or messages passed through friends.
• Stay a set distance from you, your home, your work, and the children’s school or daycare.
• Move out of a shared home, even if both names are on the lease or deed.
• Temporary custody of the children and a plan for any visits, sometimes supervised.
• Surrender of firearms. Illinois judges, for example, can order removal of firearms, the FOID card, and a concealed carry license.

If you share children, think hard about exchanges before you file. An order that says “no contact” but says nothing about how the kids get from one house to the other leaves you guessing on Friday afternoon. Ask the judge to spell it out: a police station lobby, a supervised exchange center, a relative doing the handoff.

How to ask for one

There are usually two doors.

Through the police. If officers respond to a call, ask whether your state has an emergency order they can request on the spot. In California that is the EPO; in Texas a magistrate can issue one at the abuser’s first court appearance after arrest. This is often the only option at 2 a.m.

Through the courthouse. You file a petition, usually with the circuit or county clerk where you live, where the abuser lives, or where the abuse happened. Many courts now take filings online, and some have after-hours judges. Ask the clerk or a court-based victim advocate; many courthouses have one on site.

It should not cost you anything. Under federal law, states that receive Violence Against Women Act grant money (all of them do) must not make victims pay to file, issue, register, or serve a protection order (34 U.S.C. 10450). If a clerk asks for a fee, say you are filing for a domestic violence protection order and ask about the fee waiver.

What to write in your petition

The judge decides from your paper. Vague petitions get denied. Specific ones get read. For each incident, give:

• The date (or best estimate) and where it happened.
• Exactly what was said or done, in plain words. “He said he would take the kids and I would never find them” is stronger than “he made threats.”
• Any injuries, photos, medical visits, or 911 calls.
• Whether the children saw or heard it, and how they reacted.
• Any weapons in the home.

Start with the most recent incident and the most serious one. Bring screenshots of texts with dates visible. If emotional abuse is part of the picture, our post on gaslighting and emotional abuse in custody battles covers how to describe patterns that leave no bruises.

Tell the truth and only the truth. A petition is sworn. Overstating it hurts you at the hearing, and it hurts your credibility in the divorce that follows.

After the emergency order: the full hearing

The respondent is served with the order and the hearing date. At the hearing, both of you can testify, bring witnesses, and show evidence. The judge then decides whether to issue a longer order, change it, or let it end.

Go. If you miss the hearing, the protection usually ends. If you are scared to be in the room, ask the advocate or clerk ahead of time about waiting areas, escorts, or remote appearance.

Two federal rules matter once a full order is in place:

• Firearms. Federal law bars a person from having guns while under a protection order that was issued after a hearing they had notice of, that protects an intimate partner or the partner’s child, and that meets the statute’s other conditions (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8)). The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this law in 2024 in United States v. Rahimi. Emergency orders issued without a hearing usually do not trigger the federal ban, though many states have their own gun rules that kick in sooner.
• Other states. A valid protection order must be enforced in every state, tribe, and territory, whether or not you register it there (18 U.S.C. 2265). Keep a copy with you, in the car, and at the children’s school.

How it affects your divorce and custody case

A protection order and a divorce are often separate cases, sometimes in separate courtrooms. Tell your divorce lawyer the day you file, and give the divorce court a copy. Temporary custody terms in a protection order usually hold until the divorce court makes its own orders, and the two judges need to know about each other.

Findings of abuse can weigh heavily on custody. California, for one, presumes that giving custody to a parent who committed domestic violence in the past five years is not in the child’s best interest, though that parent can try to rebut it (Family Code 3044). Other states treat abuse as a factor the judge weighs. Check your state’s rules, and if you are meeting a lawyer for the first time, our list of questions for a first meeting with a family lawyer will save you time and money. If you cannot afford one, ask the hotline or the clerk about legal aid.

If the order is against you

Follow it to the letter, starting the minute you are served, even if you think it is unfair. Violating a protection order is a crime in every state, and police can arrest on the spot.

• No contact means none, even if your spouse calls you first or says it is fine. Their invitation does not change the order. Only a judge can.
• Do not send messages through the kids, your parents, or friends.
• If you are ordered out of the house, ask police for a civil standby to collect clothes and medicine. Do not go back alone.
• Show up to the hearing, with a lawyer if you can. That is where you tell your side, and where a judge can set up time with your children.

Keeping the kids steady through it

Children notice police cars and packed bags. They do not need the court papers. Tell them something true and short for their age: “Mom and Dad are not living together right now. A judge is helping us figure out a safe plan. You did nothing wrong, and you will be taken care of.” Keep school, meals, and bedtimes as normal as you can. If your child is old enough to have a phone, make sure they know they can call 911 too.

Your next step

1. If you are not safe tonight, call 911 or the hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
2. Write down the last three incidents: date, place, exact words, who saw it.
3. Gather photos, texts, and any police report numbers.
4. Go to the clerk, file online, or ask police about an emergency order.
5. Mark the hearing date and the expiration date. Then call a family lawyer or legal aid.

This site is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Protection order laws differ by state, and the court in your county has the final word on forms and deadlines. An advocate or a licensed attorney where you live can tell you exactly what applies to you.

Related: How to Make a Will That Covers Custody of Your Children