Whether you can ask a Georgia court for a family violence protective order turns on two things: what was done to you, and your relationship to the person who did it.
What the Statute Says
OCGA 19-13-1 defines “family violence” as “the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household: (1) Any felony; or (2) Commission of offenses of battery, simple battery, simple assault, assault, stalking, criminal damage to property, unlawful restraint, or criminal trespass.”
The Relationship List Does a Lot of Work
That list of relationships is the threshold question, and the last item reaches further than people expect. In Jones v. Spruill, 337 Ga. App. 200 (2016), two brothers had not lived under the same roof in more than twenty years when one punched the other, brandished a gun and threatened to kill him. The Court of Appeals held the Act still applied, because the statutory language is unambiguous and it is common for siblings to live in the same household at some point in their lives.
The Violence Does Not Have to Be Recent
In Lewis v. Lewis, 316 Ga. App. 67 (2012), a trial court dismissed a wife’s petition because her husband’s most recent assault on her was almost a year old. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the statute requires only proof that family violence has occurred in the past and may occur again in the future. How recent the violence was may bear on how likely it is to recur, but a recent act is not required.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!