What is the “good cause” needed to extend a Family Court Order of Protection nearing its expiration? In its January 20, 2016 decision in Molloy v. Molloy, the Second Department, answered that question.

The parties were married in May 2002, and are the parents of one child. In February 2010, the wife filed a family offense petition against the husband and, following a finding that the husband had committed certain family offenses, obtained a two-year stay-away order of protection in favor of the wife and the parties’ child.

As the expiration date of the order of protection approached, the wife moved to extend it for five years, arguing that there was “good cause” for the extension, citing Family Court Act §842.

In her supporting affidavit, the wife alleged that the husband had violated the order of protection by, for example, showing up at her apartment and banging on the door, and driving his vehicle too closely to the wife, a wheelchair user, while she was on her way to a police station for a custody exchange. Fearing for her safety, she reported some of these incidents to the police. She alleged that he had recently been arrested for violating the order of protection, and that the case was pending in the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Queens County. The wife also claimed that the husband’s girlfriend warned her that the husband said that when the wife’s order of protection expired he would return to her residence, and he threatened to kill her.

The wife also noted that because she and the husband have a child in common they have to frequently interact regarding the child’s visitation. The wife claimed that the husband’s conduct during the course of their interactions over the past several years had so terrified her that she carried a panic alarm whenever she left her home. She feared that once the order of protection expired the husband would begin harassing her again and might harm or kill her.Continue Reading Extending the Order of Protection: Defining “Good Cause”