What to Do When Your Child’s on a Protective Order

So, she put the kid on the PO, what do you do now? My name is Brian L. Jackson, I’m a Tulsa father’s rights attorney here with Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable. I’m going to talk about what you should do if your ex files a PO against you and puts the kid on a protective order.

The short answer is, first of all, you need to get a good lawyer and second of all, you need to have your lawyer contest the child being on the protective order. This is especially important if we’re talking about a situation where there’s already a custody order in place. Strictly speaking, PO court only has temporary power to modify a custody order if it’s needed to protect the child.

Now, if the PO’s allegations largely have to do with your interactions with the ex and not the child, your attorney can get in there and scream about that, not literally, obviously. They can get in there and make a big stink about that and make the argument that it is inappropriate for the child to be on there and that this is just a backdoor attempt to modify the existing custody order.

Working with a Lawyer to Contest the Child’s Inclusion

It’s been my experience in Tulsa County that if a parent puts a child on a protective order, they’re usually going to get told by the protective order judge to go file an emergency custody motion if they feel the child’s endangered. They’re usually told they’ll have a certain amount of time to get that done before the court will drop the child off to the protective order. Unless the child is the actual victim of the violence, the protective order courts, in my experience, usually will not put the child on the final protective order against the other parent because that is effectively a custody order and the statutes prohibit that. So they’re going to be told to go file an emergency, go file a motion to modify or whatever in family court.

But you do need a lawyer in that situation to raise those arguments and it’s kind of a complicated legal argument, so this is not the time to do amateur hour and try to articulate that argument yourself because you really need to understand the way the statutory scheme interacts with, for protective orders, interacts with the family law. And there may be other issues as well, for example, if the PO gets filed in a county that’s not the county where your custody order is, that you, unless you know, you’re not going to be well-equipped to make that argument.

Contact Dads.Law for a Low-cost Strategy Session

So, if you find yourself in this situation, don’t hesitate to reach out to an experienced Oklahoma protective order defense lawyer who can help you navigate the complexities of contesting the child’s inclusion in a protective order. At Dads.Law, we specialize in protecting the rights of fathers in family law matters. Call us today to schedule a initial consultation and discuss your case. Remember, fathers are not disposable, and we are here to fight for you and your relationship with your child.