I know these people– let’s call them B and E. For years now, B keeps threatening to leave E. Every time, E makes concessions and allows B to renegotiate the terms of the relationship, always in B’s favor. Finally, after a new installment of threats, B has departed– but is now trying to reestablish visiting rights on B’s own terms, presenting this as a favor done to E.
E’s friends are relieved that B is gone and are telling E to change the locks. A court order might be necessary.
Get a TRO while there’s time and before the situation has appreciably altered. I don’t know what the threats were, but I am assuming they are sufficiently serious to make such a move desirable.
Since I wrote that, a big chunk of B’s body known as Scotland has declared its intention to stay connected to E. In that case, it will be hard to know how to apply the TRO.
You got me.
I learned how to do three useful things in paralegal school, mainly because I was trained by Legal Aid attorneys:
1, Intervene in an eviction
2, Do the paperwork for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy
3. Prepare a motion for a temporary restraining order.
My favorite teacher was a Legal Aid attorney who was also a Jesuit. He indicated that the need for a TRO is often extremely serious, and, when in doubt, write the motion, give it to the attorney, and the attorney will let the judge sort it out. He set out the various things that could or did happen to people in the absence of a TRO or the presence of an imperfectly drafted motion for TRO.
For this reason, when I see a fact pattern involving a deteriorating relationship and the possible need for a TRO, I take it quite literally and very seriously. I did wonder why you were asking the Internet about it.
And now, the obligatory lines: I am not a lawyer, and cannot furnish legal advice. My credential with the State of California has lapsed; my CLA credential has lapsed.