Stopping the other parent from making the call.
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The Situation
The other parent has decided something about your child that you did not agree to, and there is nothing on the docket for weeks.
That gap is the problem a temporary restraining order solves. It is not the answer to the case. It is what keeps the thing from happening while the case gets filed.
Two different things get called a restraining order, and people land on the wrong one constantly.
An order of protection involves a threat of violence. It restrains contact with a person, and it is filed either at 201 Poplar or inside a divorce in circuit or chancery court. It lasts far longer, shows up on background checks, suspends the carry permit and requires firearms to be surrendered while it is pending, and violating one is a criminal offense with a physical arrest.
A temporary restraining order in juvenile court does none of that. It restrains an act for fifteen days. No background record, no effect on your gun rights, and no finding that anyone did anything wrong.
The Rule
These run under Rule 108 of the Tennessee Rules of Juvenile Practice and Procedure, and the rule is more forgiving than most people expect.
A court may enter an ex parte restraining order when it finds either that a child may abscond or be removed from the court’s jurisdiction, or that there is a danger of immediate harm to a child such that a delay for a hearing would be likely to result in severe or irreparable harm.
That first ground matters more than people realize. It is not about abuse. It is about a parent who might take the child and go.
Not clear and convincing evidence. Not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Probable cause, which is the same standard that gets a search warrant signed.
Reliable hearsay counts. That is the part that surprises people. You do not have to have witnessed it yourself, and you do not have to have a signed statement from everyone involved.
Ex parte means the judge hears one side and signs it. A judge or any magistrate serving the court can enter one. That is why it gets in front of a court quickly, and it is also why it does not last.
The order runs 15 days. It can only go longer if the court extends it after the other parent has had a chance to be heard, or if that parent agrees. In practice a hearing follows within about 72 hours.
Every request has to state whether any court has already refused the same relief. Leaving that out is the kind of thing that gets a petition sent back.
A Common Misunderstanding
A restraining order is not something that only exists inside a case that is already moving. It can be the first thing filed.
That matters, because the parents who need one most are often the ones with nothing on file. Never married, no parenting plan, no pending divorce, and no hearing date to wait for.
What Gets Restrained
A temporary restraining order restrains a specific act or decision. In practice these come up when one parent makes a permanent or significant decision about a child without the other.
When There Are Criminal Charges
This one is written into the statute and almost nobody knows it exists.
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-6-112(c)(2), a parent is presumed to present a substantial risk of harm to a child if that parent is under indictment for aggravated child abuse, child sexual abuse, or severe child sexual abuse. The statute says the parent remains a risk of harm for as long as the indictment is pending.
The statute says a court may grant supervised visitation to a parent under indictment. May, not shall. A court is allowed to order supervised visits and it is equally allowed to order none.
Under § 36-6-101(a)(2)(A)(v), a court cannot award any form of custody to a parent under indictment for those offenses unless the presumption is overcome, and an indictment for one of them constitutes a material change in circumstance for modifying an existing custody order. That is the threshold question in most modification cases, and here the statute answers it for you.
A Dangerous Assumption
When a parent bonds out of jail on a charge involving a child, the release order frequently says something like: not to be around minors, except for supervised visitation in accordance with juvenile court orders.
Parents read that as permission. It is the opposite.
Juvenile court keeps the authority to decide whether visitation happens at all and on what terms. A bond condition does not enlarge that, and it does not obligate the juvenile court to continue anything.
If Visitation Continues
Suspending contact entirely is one request. It is not the only one, and a court that will not suspend visitation will often tighten it considerably.
Restrictions that get ordered in these cases include:
Ask for what fits the facts. A court is far more likely to order six specific restrictions it can enforce than a general instruction to behave.
After the Order
Getting the order signed is the beginning. A hearing follows quickly, and that hearing is where the case really starts.
The other parent is heard for the first time. The court decides whether the restraint stays in place, and the order itself runs 15 days unless it is extended.
Everyone is now in front of a judge, under oath, with the conduct on the table. A hearing that started over one decision frequently turns into something larger.
If what the other parent is doing rises to that level, the next filing is a dependency and neglect petition in Shelby County Juvenile Court. Anyone can file one.
If there is already a parenting plan, the filing is a petition to modify, and the conduct that produced the restraining order is the change in circumstances.
Which is why the 15 days matter. They are not a cooling off period. They are the window in which the real case gets filed.
If It Is Violated
A temporary restraining order is a court order. Ignoring one is contempt, and it is handled the way contempt is handled, in front of the judge who signed it.
It also binds more people than the parent it names. Under the rule it is binding on the parties, their agents and attorneys, and anyone acting in concert with them who has actual notice of it. A relative who helps is not outside of it.
Practically, a parent who violates a restraining order has also handed the other side the best possible evidence for the case that follows. Those 15 days were going to be spent proving that this parent makes unilateral decisions about the child. Violating the order proves it for free.
The Other Side
You were not heard before it was signed. That is what ex parte means, and it is not a finding that the allegations are true. The standard was probable cause, and the court was allowed to rely on hearsay.
The hearing is where it gets sorted out. Ignoring it in the meantime turns a fight you might win into a contempt finding you will not.
The restraining order is rarely the whole plan. A dependency and neglect petition or a modification is usually right behind it, and the position you take at that first hearing is the position you are taking in the case that follows.
Your Attorney
William Young · Of Counsel · Juvenile Court
Attorney William Young handles dependency and neglect in Shelby County Juvenile Court on both sides, along with custody for parents who were never married. He knows the rules of evidence cold, which in that building matters more than it should have to.
Dependency & neglect → · Grandparent custody → · About William Young →
Common Questions
Yes. Under Rule 108 of the Tennessee Rules of Juvenile Practice and Procedure, a court can enter an ex parte restraining order stopping the other parent from doing a specific thing to or with your child. It is good for 15 days and a hearing follows quickly.
Probable cause, which is the same standard that gets a search warrant signed. The court can consider a motion, a petition, a sworn affidavit, sworn testimony, or reliable hearsay.
Either one of two. That the child may abscond or be removed from the court's jurisdiction, or that there is a danger of immediate harm to the child such that waiting for a hearing would likely result in severe or irreparable harm.
Rule 108 expressly allows the court to consider reliable hearsay at this stage. You do not have to have witnessed the thing yourself, and you do not need a signed statement from everyone involved.
Fifteen days. It can run longer only if the court extends it after the other parent has had an opportunity to be heard, or if that parent consents. In practice a hearing follows within about 72 hours.
No. A temporary restraining order stops a specific act for a short period and carries no background consequence. An order of protection is a separate filing involving a threat of violence, it is not heard in juvenile court, and it restrains contact with a person. It lasts far longer, appears on background checks, affects the carry permit and firearms while pending, and violating one is a criminal offense.
No. A restraining order can be the first thing filed. Many of the parents who need one have nothing on file, no parenting plan, and no hearing date to wait for.
Substantially. Under Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-6-112(c)(2), a parent under indictment for aggravated child abuse, child sexual abuse, or severe child sexual abuse is presumed to present a substantial risk of harm to the child, and remains a risk for as long as the indictment is pending. Supervised visitation is permitted in that situation, not required.
No. When a criminal release order carves out an exception for supervised visitation in accordance with juvenile court orders, it is conditioning its own prohibition on whatever the juvenile court allows. It does not create a visitation right and it does not obligate the juvenile court to continue anything.
Yes, and courts often prefer it. Professional supervision only, no third parties present, no diapering or bathing, no physical contact initiated by the parent, no questioning the child about the other household, no recording, all communication through the agency, and the restrained parent paying for supervision are all restrictions that get ordered.
A tattoo is permanent and no court can undo one, which is exactly the kind of decision a temporary restraining order exists to stop. It can be entered ex parte, with a hearing shortly after.
This is one of the decisions a temporary restraining order is used to stop while the underlying case gets filed. The order restrains the act for fifteen days.
It happens, and it is a medical decision one parent frequently makes alone. A temporary restraining order can stop it in the short term while a dependency and neglect petition or a modification is filed.
A school change is a major decision, and whether one parent can make it alone depends on how decision-making is divided in the parenting plan. A restraining order can hold it in place while that gets sorted out.
Out of state travel is one of the acts a restraining order can restrain, and the rule has a ground built for exactly that: that the child may abscond or be removed from the court's jurisdiction.
It is contempt, because it is a violation of a court order. The order also binds their agents and attorneys and anyone acting in concert with them who has actual notice, so a relative who helps is not outside of it.
You were not heard before it was signed, which is what ex parte means, and it is not a finding that the allegations are true. Do not violate it while you disagree with it. The hearing is where it gets sorted out, and a contempt finding in the meantime is worse than the order itself.
Free consultation. These move fast, and so does the thing you are trying to stop.