Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Restraining order against a stepfather

First, take a deep breath. There are two types of restraining orders in this situation: A domestic violence restraining order and a civil harassment restraining order. The domestic violence restraining order takes some type of domestic violence and a married couple yelling at each other does not constitute domestic violence. Not yet anyway. Now if the daughter has been subjected to being physically abused or either you or your wife are physically abusing either each other or your daughter then her father could have some type of argument but it would involve him claiming her mother is living in an unfit environment and it is causing emotional and mental abuse and harm to the child. However, that would be an argument for review of the current custody arrangement that would arise under a motion for a change in custody. It would not arise under a request for restraining order. A civil harassment restraining order under these circumstances would not fly either.

A lot of people throw around legal terms they do not really understand and restraining order is generally one of those terms. A lot of people think they are really easy to get. Generally they are not. It depends on the County and the circumstances but they require a likely occurrence of a future harm and generally it is a future physically harm. So if the facts are as you presented them a restraining order probably would not fly. However, if you have held back some facts or not disclosed some information it could change things as well. What I suggest you do is contact the County's family law facilitator's office. Each Family law court generally has a self help center with staff to assist you. They can be an excellent resource for information. Find out how your works and go see them. Explain the situation and get an opinion with someone who is familiar with your county and the local judges. Good luck