How A TRO Can Help You During Your Divorce

A temporary restraining order (TRO) is an excellent tool for getting an instant reprieve from an injustice during your divorce. This is what you should use so that you can get help quickly while waiting for a permanent solution from the court. Here are some of the issues a TRO can help you with:

Getting Temporary Custody or Visitation Rights

Child custody issues are usually some of the most controversial issues during a divorce. Such issues become even more polarizing when one spouse takes it upon themselves to act unilaterally. For example, your spouse may decide to take the kids out of state, enroll them in a different school or take them on an extended vacation without your permission. Both parents have the right to make these decisions. Therefore, if the other parent is making such unilateral decisions, you can get a TRO to stop them until the court can issue a permanent ruling on the issue.

Paying Abuse-Related Expenses

Depending on how your partner has been abusing you, you may incur some expenses that you would not have incurred without the abuse. For example, you may need money to pay your medical bills if you are injured, money to pay a domestic worker if you are injured and cannot handle your household chores, and money to move out of your marital home. Since your partner would be the cause of all these expenses, it makes sense that you can use a TRO to get them to pay the bills.

Getting Your Things from Your Marital Home

A TRO can also help you gain entry into your marital home, in case you are no longer living there, so that you may collect your personal items. This may be necessary if you are separated and have moved out of your family home or if your partner has made it impossible for you to live there. In this case, the TRO will help you get the police's protection so that you can enter your marital home without facing any harm from your partner.

Getting Your Partner Therapeutic Help

Lastly, you may also use a TRO to force your partner into counseling or therapy. For example, if your partner is abusing drugs and becomes violent when intoxicated, drug rehabilitation may help them avoid their violent tendencies. This is particularly helpful if you have kids; by getting help for your partner, you are securing both your kids' and your personal safety in the future.

As you can see, ATRO can be very useful during a divorce, especially during a difficult divorce. Therefore, if you are going through a divorce, tell your divorce lawyer about any difficulties you are facing or your fears so that they can get you legal help whether it involves a TRO or not.