Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
restraining order/anti harrassment order
My boyfriends ex-wife has placed an anti harrassment/restraining order on me-I didn't have an atty or proof to refute her claims at the time of court.She has harrassed and threatened me over the past several months and has threatened me w/local police and court officials (small town & she knows many).Anyway, I now have evidence that she was both outright lying and also basing parts of her claims on lies others told her.Only one thing was true and that happened nearly 1 yr ago.I am worried, as this is a sm town & we both have children at the same school, she will continue in her vindictive way & make claims of me breaking the order to get me in trouble.I have no desire to be near this woman, but the dynamics of this town make it likely we will eventually run into one another.Can I get it dropped based on her lying or can I just get it or a new one that is reciprocal?I dont want to handle this in the same town as I fear i won't get a fair shake from the local crt/officials since she knows many of them. In addition to the fear of further unjustified reprisals from her, this whole business has been an embarrassment to me. what can I do?i want to protect myself & keep us both at a distance so as to difuse the situation legally.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: restraining order/anti harrassment order
Your chance to defend the matter was when it was pending, not after final orders were entered.
Now, if you violate that order, you risk arrest. You have an uphill battle to have an anti harassment order vacated. The Court thinks that if you are still invested in fighting about the order, you still have issues with the Petitioner, so they should leave the order in place.
I can't really say without looking at the pleadings, but based on what you are saying, no, I would not recommend that you pursue having the order vacated.
Elizabeth Powell
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