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Legal Information: North Carolina

Restraining Orders

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Laws current as of December 22, 2023

Who can get a domestic violence protective order (DVPO)?

You can seek legal protection from acts of domestic violence done to you or your minor child by someone you have had a “personal relationship” with, which includes:

  • your spouse, or ex-spouse;
  • a person of the opposite sex with whom you live or used to live;
  • someone with whom you have a child in common;
  • a current or former household member; 
  • someone of the opposite sex whom you are dating or have dated; or
  • parents, children, grandparents, and grandchildren – however, a parent, grandparent, or someone acting in loco parentis to a minor child can only file against a child who is 16 or older.1

If you have not had a “personal relationship” with the abuser, harasser or stalker, you may be eligible for a civil no-contact order.2

1 NCGS § 50B-1(b)
2 NCGS § 50C-1

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