Abuse Lawyer in Montgomery County PA

Under Pennsylvania Law, certain protected parties are eligible to file a Petition for Protection from Abuse ("PFA") in the Court of Common Pleas Family Division in the event they have been abused. In order to file a PFA, the filing party must have a specific type of relationship with the defendant they are filing against. The relationships designated under the Pennsylvania PFA Statue are:

• Spouses or persons who have been spouses
• Persons living as spouses or who lived as spouses
• Parents and children
• Other persons related by consanguinity or affinity
• Current or former sexual or intimate partners
• Persons who share biological parenthood

Abuse, as defined in the PFA Statute, does not just have to be actual physical abuse but can also include attempts to cause bodily injury, placing an individual in reasonable fear of imminent serious bodily injury, false imprisonment and knowingly engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts which place a person in reasonable fear of bodily injury.

A Petition for PFA is filed and then a determination is made by a Judge as to whether a Temporary PFA Order should be entered pending a full hearing. A full hearing will be scheduled to take place not long after a Petition has been filed. Our office represents both individuals who seek to file a PFA Petition as well as individuals who a PFA Petition has been filed against.