Top 5 Mistakes Men Make Responding To a PFA Order in Delaware

I'm Ron Poliquin, Family Court Attorney at DoverLawOffice.com,

Today we're going to talk about men responding to a PFA order, a petition for protection from abuse from the family court in Delaware. If just served the PFA, what do you do? In short, a PFA is an accusation that abuse has occurred usually from someone you love, your wife, a girlfriend you're living with or perhaps somebody you share a child with. Also, the court can grant an emergency PFA order based solely on what the accuser writes without any notice to you or without you having a chance to respond to the allegations. A PFA can be proved by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more than 50%.

If you do not respond correctly to a PFA order, there's going be big consequences to your life. You could lose your right to live in your own house. You can lose your right to see your children. You could lose your right to own a firearm or be ordered to pay alimony or child support for a year or more, depending on the circumstances. As a Delaware Family Court Attorney, these are the mistakes I see in how men handle a PFA.

1. Violating a temporary PFA order, you can and will be arrested. The truth is that the court and police do not care how this temporary order is screwing up your life, how unfair this thing is? If you violate the order and the other person calls the police, you're going be arrested and your going have to deal with a whole other set of problems.
2. Ignoring a PFA petition, if your wife or girlfriend or whatever files for emergency PFA petition and gets it and the court determines there's an emergency, the hearing to be scheduled within 15 days. A non-emergency petition will be scheduled with 30 days. It is essential that you get ready, be prepared. If you don't show up for that hearing and the other party does there's going be a default judgment against you. The other part is probably going to get everything they ask for because you're not there and the courts only hearing one side of the argument.
3. Another mistake I see in men dealing with PFA’s is not filing a cross-petition. More often than not the person accusing responded, or the man of abuse has also committed abuse themselves. So, it's essential that you file a cross-petition for abuse if it's appropriate.
4. Negotiating the terms of the consent order properly. A lot of times if you're not represented don't understand the process it can be very complicated and daunting. You're already in an emotional state, you're either:
   - Giving away the farm without knowing the true consequences.
   - You're not understanding the process, so you are not negotiating properly and perhaps you're fighting for something that doesn't really matter that much.
5. Not getting a lawyer, not being prepared, not being prepared for trial, not getting your witnesses together, not having evidence to prove your case. Whether they be text messages, emails, medical records, police reports, most people that are accused of abuse are not in an emotional state to handle these things properly themselves. Paying an attorney could be worth it in the long run.

These are my 5, what I see in mistakes that help men handle responding to a PFA. If you want to hire me or you want to get a consultation, mention this video I’m going to reduce my consultation rate. Go to DoverLawOffices.com and ask for Ron Poliquin. Schedule an appointment and it's essential that you prepare for this, so it doesn't wreck your life. Thanks!