Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: antiharassment order

The person who has the order is the Petitioner. Your daughter is the respondent. The Petitioner can't violate the order, as her conduct isn't restrained. The person who is subject to the order is the respondent. If your daughter didn't yell or harass the petitioner, the petitioner's conduct in the exchange isn't relevant.

One of the continuing challenges of family law is that it affects the very life of the person involved in a way that a car accident never will.

When people feel threatened or powerless, they tend to respond badly. A hundred years ago, the response to a person who behaved badly was the 'cut direct' where the other people in that person's life 'cut' them by refusing to talk to them, or even to acknowledge their existence. This shunning was so painful that eventually the person who had behaved badly would beg forgiveness.

Now, the remedy for bad behavior is a restraining order.

It isn't a great solution where people have to communicate regarding children. Eventually the emotions calm down and people can be rational again. But if you go to court and tell a judge the petitioner broke the order, the judge won't care, if that is what you are asking.

If your daughter was yelling, that would be another matter.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell