Enforcing the Automatic Temporary Injunction: What’s Next?
Hi, my name is Clint Hastings. I’m a Tulsa Dads.Law attorney here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I focus on fathers’ rights.
Today, I want to talk about the Automatic Temporary Injunction, also known as the ATI. We’ve discussed this in other videos — it’s the injunction automatically issued by the court, by statute, in every divorce case. It’s essentially a list of do’s and don’ts: things you can and can’t do with your property, your finances, and your children.
Enforcing the ATI
What I want to cover today is what to do if the other party violates that Automatic Temporary Injunction.
As we’ve talked about before, you can file a contempt action asking the court to enforce the ATI. The court can compel compliance by imposing fines or other penalties. But under the statute itself, the ATI also says that police shall enforce those orders if you can show them that the order is properly filed and that a violation is taking place.
Seeking Help and Legal Action
However, in practice — does that actually happen? Not really. Most of the time, the police will tell you it’s a civil matter and something the court has to deal with. And, honestly, that makes some sense. If police officers had to respond every time someone claimed a violation of an ATI, they’d be overwhelmed.
So what I tell clients is this: If you believe police involvement might actually help prevent something from happening, go ahead and try. Show them the order and see if they’ll intervene. But in most cases, what I do is file an application for contempt or another motion asking the court to stop the other party from disposing of property or interfering with your time with the children.
Get a Consultation Today
My name is Clint Hastings and I’m a Tulsa men’s divorce attorney. Please visit our website, let us know if you have any questions, and if you need a consultation, give us a call at 918-962-0900. We’ll be glad to help.
