Where Can I Get a 209A Protective Order?

You can get a 209A protective order at the District Court near where you live or the Probate and Family Court in your county.

You can also go to the Superior Court in your county. If you live in Boston, you can go to the Boston Municipal Court near where you live. Most people get 209A protective orders from District Court, Boston Municipal Court, or Probate and Family Court.

If you have moved to another town in Massachusetts since the abuse, you can go to the court where you live now or to the court where the abuse happened. It is your choice.

In this chapter, everything we say about the District Court also applies to the Boston Municipal Court and the Superior Court.

Is it better to go to District Court or to Probate and Family Court?

It is up to you. Some things to think about when you are deciding which court is better for you are:

Travel and distance

• If it is hard for you to get places that are far away, find out which court is closer to you. You might want to pick the closest court. There are more District Courts than Probate and Family Courts, so the District Court may be closer to your home.
• Find out when the courts near you are open. In some counties, the Probate and Family Court is only open part of the day. If you go to a Probate and Family Court when it is not open, they will send you to the District Court. You might want to call both the District Court near you and the Probate and Family Court in your county to find out when they are open.

Help with the papers and the hearing

Many courts have advocates in the courthouse who can help you file for a 209A protective order. Advocates may be from:

• SAFEPLAN, a program of the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance (MOVA). SAFEPLAN advocates work with local domestic violence programs.
• the District Attorney's office Victim/Witness Advocate program;
• a battered women's program; or

If you want someone to help you, find out which court near you has an advocate at the courthouse.

If the other parent wants to visit your child

The District Court is not supposed to order visitation between the other parent and your child as part of a 209A case. If the District Court judge asks you if you want to set up a visitation schedule, you have the right to say no.

• The Probate and Family Court can write a visitation schedule into a 209A protective order, but only if you agree to it.

If you want to get visitation settled right away, you might want to go to the Probate and Family Court to file for the 209A protective order. If you don't want the court to decide about visitation, you might want to go to the District Court for your 209A protective order. If you start in the District Court and the other parent wants to visit your child, he will have to go to the Probate and Family Court and file a new case there.

If you go to the Probate and Family Court, you should be prepared to talk about visitation. If it is not safe for the other parent to visit your child, you can ask for no visitation. If it is safe for the other parent to visit your child, you should think about what kind of visitation schedule you want. Write it down and be prepared to give it to the court. That way, your 209A protective order can set a visitation schedule that will work for you.

If you have a custody or child support order from the Probate and Family Court

District Courts are not supposed to put anything about custody or child support in a 209A protective order if the Probate and Family Court has already made orders about custody or child support. You can still get a 209A protective order from a District Court, but it will not say anything about custody or child support. If you need the order to give you custody or child support, you have to file for your 209A protective order in the Probate and Family Court that made the custody or child support order.

If you go to the District Court, the clerk may try to send you to the Probate and Family Court. You have the right to file for a protective order in the District Court, even if the Probate and Family Court has made custody or child support orders. The District Court can still give you a protective order to keep you safe, even if the judge can't make a decision about custody or child support. Tell the clerk that you want to be heard by the District Court judge.

In an emergency, a District Court judge can make custody or visitation order that conflicts with an order of the Probate and Family Court.  Read more about what District Court judges can do about conflicting custody or visitation orders in an emergency.

If the abusive person is facing criminal charges

If the abusive person is facing criminal charges related to the domestic violence, you might want to file for your 209A protective order at the District Court where that case is. That way, you may be able to work with the same Victim/Witness Advocate for both cases.

What if the courts are closed when I need the order?

There is always a judge on call through the "Emergency Judicial Response System." Call the police if you need a 209A protective order at night, on the weekend, or on a holiday. They will help you get an emergency 209A protective order from the judge who is on call.

An order from an on-call judge is good until the court opens the next business day. The police will tell you when and where to go to get the emergency order continued.

Read about what happens when the courts are closed.