Take Your PO Very Seriously

Video Transcribed: So you’re not planning to talk to the person again, you don’t have a kid with them. So who cares if they have a PO against you? Right? My name is Brian L. Jackson. I’m a Tulsa Father’s Rights Attorney with Dads.Law.

And I want to talk to you today about the idea of why you should always fight the protective order. It’s easy enough to assume that if you have someone file a protective order against you, who you have no intention of being involved with in the future, who you don’t have a kid with, thinking, “You know what? I don’t give a shit. Fine, have it.” Well, that may sound like a good idea in theory, but in practice, that protective order is going to impact your rights in a couple of important ways.

First and most important, if you are like many Oklahomans, then you have guns, you hunt, and you like your guns. Well, guess what? You get a final protective order, you can’t have those guns during the pendency of that protective order under federal law.

Even if the protective order itself doesn’t specifically prohibit you from having a weapon, under federal law, if you are subject to a final protective order, you are prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

And it’s noteworthy that with the way they’re defining firearms under federal law could also be interpreted to include things like a BB gun, an airsoft gun, even a bow, and arrow or a crossbow might be considered because it is defining it based on the ability to launch a projectile.

And guess what? Any of those items will launch a projectile. So it could be considered a firearm for those purposes. And then in other words, if you get that protective order, you may lose your ability, will lose your ability to hunt. Another important consideration, do you have kids with anybody?

Never mind if it’s with the party who filed the protective order. Do you have kids with anyone? Because if you do, that protective order could be considered res judicata, that you are a domestic abuser, a harasser, or a stalker for the purpose of child custody, which will be considered negatively against you and could potentially cost you rights to see your child unsupervised. Or if you have joint custody, it could cost you joint custody, or sole custody if you’re the sole custodian.

And it could be considered a material change in circumstances sufficient to justify a change in custody if you already have an order. So it is very important to understand, even if it has nothing to do whatsoever with your kid or your baby mama, you get a protective order against you and she decides she wants to drag you back to court, that could be grounds to drag you back to court.

Additionally, the court in a protective order has the power to order you to do things. You could be ordered into domestic violence classes. You could be ordered to pay her attorney’s fees, which could be quite expensive depending on the nature of the protective order.

And you could be looking at up to $1,200, $1,500, even $2,000 in attorney’s fees. Not an insignificant amount of money. And that’s not including court costs, which you could also be ordered to pay. So in other words, guys, you should take these protective orders seriously, even if it’s the crazy-ass girlfriend who you wouldn’t spit on if she was on fire.

Take it seriously. It is absolutely a potential infringement upon your rights as a citizen, as a father. And you should take it seriously. And if you are served the protective order, you need a good lawyer. And one place you could find a good lawyer is to go to Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable. Thanks, guys.