Denver Divorce Lawyer News & Blog

You Are Not Invited to Violate a Restraining Order

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You Are Not Invited to Violate a Restraining Order
Civil protection orders, which are called restraining orders, can be issued on a temporary or permanent basis. Many times the parties are not strangers and have or had some type of relationship. It could be any familiar relationship such as husband-wife, boyfriend and girlfriend or similar relationships. When actual violence or threats of violence cause one party to get a civil restraining order, the relationship often does not end. But that does not mean the restraining order can be violated.

 

Not even if you’re invited. Not by writing, not by text, not even by Fed Ex. Not email, not by snail mail, not by thumbnail. According to the Colorado Court of Appeals, the other party can never consent to the violation of a restraining order. Even if they give consent, it’s not valid. So if your ex- wife has a restraining order with a no contact provision and then tells you its ok to contact her, it’s not. Not even if she sends it to you in writing by certified mail.

 

Many people find this confusing. How can you violate a restraining order if the other party agrees to it? Because consent of the court is required, not consent of the parties. This is meant to keep an abuser from bullying the other party into consent, which can lead to more bullying.