Most parents in need of a protective order need their orders to address custody and visitation if they share children with the abusive former partner. When requesting custody in a protective order petition, there are a variety of issues to take into consideration, including whether to invoke the Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act (the law governing child custody determinations in family violence cases).
One of the first considerations when deciding whether to request child custody is whether your client wishes to relocate and whether the jurisdiction is appropriate. Once a Louisiana court assumes jurisdiction over child custody issues, it can be very difficult to move the case to another state or venue. If your client has left or intends to leave the state, she may be stuck litigating child custody issues in Louisiana for years.1
Additionally, lawyers should carefully consider the impact of a protective order hearing on future custody litigation before filing and should be prepared to litigate the hearing as if it were determinative for permanent custody. This means that lawyers should also carefully consider the impact of consent judgments on temporary custody on future custody litigation. A judge may be reluctant to impose Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act visitation restrictions in a case where a petitioner has previously consented to less restrictive visitation in protective order proceedings.
- 1For more detailed discussion of these jurisdiction issues and how to advise your client about custody and relocation, see Section 8.12. For additional discussion of interstate child custody issues, see Section 4.10 and Section 4.11 of this manual’s chapter on family law.