Most of the time, a domestic violence protective order is entered for a period of one year. But what happens at the end of that year when the order expires? Can the order be renewed? North Carolina General Statues 50B-3(b) provides that a “court may renew a protective order for a fixed period of time not to exceed two years, including an order that has previously been renewed, union a motion by the aggrieved party filed before the expiration of the current order….” The only requirement found in the statute is that a motion to renew must be filed before the current order expires. Case law has imposed a standard of “good cause” for renewal of a protective order entered pursuant to Chapter 50B. There is no definition of what constitutes “good cause” sufficient to renew a protective order, but there have been cases considered by the North Carolina Court of Appeals that address the issue of “good cause.” What we know from case law is that the person seeking renewal of a protective order does not have to show that the defendant has committed additional acts of domestic violence since the entry of the original protective order, nor does the moving party have to show that the defendant has violated the protective order for good cause to renew to be found. Although the moving party does not need to show that the defendant has done something, the moving party does still have to provide a reason that the court will qualify as good cause.
The Court of Appeals must determine, for example, that there is good cause for renewal when the plaintiff is still in fear of the defendant. That seems pretty straightforward, but matters are not always quite that simple. In a recent Court of Appeals case, Roy o/b/o G.E.M. v. Martin, plaintiff’s compliant included allegations of domestic violence, but there was never a hearing on those allegations because the parties entered into a consent order for a one-year protective order. Before the order expired, plaintiff filed a motion seeking renewal of the DVPO. At the renewal hearing, the parties litigated the original allegations and defendant denied them all. Plaintiff testified to vague feelings of fear and could not articulate any specific concerns she had were the order not to be renewed. The trial court renewed the protective order and defendant appealed to the Court of Appeals. On appeal, the argument for plaintiff, generally, was that “good cause” is a low threshold and that the Court has previously found good cause when plaintiff has testified to an ongoing fear. Defendant’s argument on appeal, generally, was that there had never been a finding that he did anything wrong and that the testimony at the renewal hearing did not include any specific concerns. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s renewal order. The Court of Appeals said that to renew a DVPO, the trial court must make specific findings of fact that the plaintiff had actual fear of the defendant. In this case, the plaintiff’s vague and non-specific concerns did not meet that standard.
So, what does the decision in this case mean for renewal hearings going forward? If you are seeking renewal of a domestic violence protective order, you need to be specific about your concerns and fear – you cannot just express general concerns. Although “good cause” is still a low threshold, it is still a threshold that the plaintiff must cross and to do that, the plaintiff must present evidence to support his or her position. If you are seeking a renewal of a domestic violence protective order, the attorneys at Collins Family & Elder Law Group can help.
If you are seeking a renewal of a domestic violence protective order, the attorneys at Collins Family & Elder Law Group can help.
