Litigation Abuse

For you to be able to request an order, one of the following must be true:

1. the person engaging in abusive litigation is your current or former family or household member, which is defined as:

• your current or former intimate partner;
• your current or former spouse;
• related to you by blood or marriage;
• someone who is living with you or has lived with you in the past three years;
• someone you have a child with; or
• someone you are currently dating or have dated or been engaged to within the past year; or  

2. there a civil order or criminal conviction finding that the person engaging in abusive litigation stalked or sexually assaulted you.¹

In both of the above situations, you will also need to show that a judge has determined that this person committed abuse, stalking, or sexual assault against you in any of the following documents:

• a final domestic violence restraining order;
• a final protective order issued under section 15-5-19 of the law;
• a no-contact order;
• a final sexual assault protective;
• a final abuse prevention order issued by the court of any other state, including U.S. territories and any federally recognized Indian tribe, that has similar provisions to Rhode Island’s abuse prevention orders;
• a final order for alimony or custody of children;
• a criminal conviction, plea of “nolo contendere,” or a filed criminal charge in any state for one of the criminal offenses listed in section 12-29-2 of the law;
• a pending criminal charge for domestic violence in any state, if the court has imposed conditions on the abuser’s release to protect the safety of the victim; or
• a signed affidavit from a domestic violence or sexual assault advocate or counselor working on behalf of an agency that helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.²

¹ RI Gen. Laws §§ 8-8.4-2(a); 8-8.4-1(2)
² RI Gen. Laws § 8-8.4-1(1)(ii)