For most of us, thoughts of family engender warm feelings, happy memories, and thoughts of love, acceptance, and belonging. Unfortunately, however, there are those whose reality does not evoke images or feelings of comfort and security, but of violence, assault, and abuse. In those cases, the law must protect you and your children from further attacks. In Austin, a family law attorney can help any family who considers themselves to be at risk of danger because of another family member to obtain a protective order so that future acts of violence can be averted.
Sadly, the public usually learns of violence in a particular family when a horrific tragedy occurs and someone is seriously harmed, or worse, killed. However, Texas law has provisions to help prevent extreme acts of violence within a family. One of those provisions is a protective order that can keep the violent party from having access to members of the family, from having access to firearms, or even from being able to enter the work places of family members.
One important thing to consider if you feel threatened by another family member is that your attorney may be able to obtain a protective order for you even if no physical violence has yet occurred. The law recognizes that the best time to prevent any kind of family violence is before it has happened. Consequently, if you feel threatened and have a reasonable fear that you or another family member could be harmed or are in danger, it is possible to get a court-issued protective order against the abusive or violent family member.
In addition to keeping the abusive party from having access to you, your children, or other family members, the law requires those who have protective orders against them to participate in counseling. In this fashion, family violence law seeks to be rehabilitative as well as protective. Not only will you and your family benefit from the protection offered by the order, but it can also benefit the violent family member as well, if they are able to willingly participate in the counseling and truly desire to be reformed by it.
Regardless of whether or not the counseling helps the offender, however, the important thing is that you and your family get the help and the protection that you deserve. The law is clear that no one should live in fear of assault, abuse, or any other kind of preventable danger. If you are in a violent situation, believe that you or your children are in danger, or have some other reason to be fearful, contact a family law attorney in the Austin area to get the help you need. Do not wait for further violence to happen, get the help that you need today.
