How to Get a Restraining Order

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · United States · Last updated September 17, 2026

A restraining order is a civil court order that directs one person to stop abusing, threatening, harassing, or contacting another and to stay away from their home, work, and school. Every state offers this protection, but the details differ from state to state. The order goes by different names, a domestic violence restraining order in one state, an order of protection, a protective order, an injunction for protection, or a protection-from-abuse order in others, and the type you seek depends on your relationship to the person and the conduct involved. The process has the same shape everywhere. You file a petition, usually with no filing fee in a domestic-violence case, and a judge can grant a temporary emergency order the same day without the other person present if you are in immediate danger. That temporary order lasts only until a full court hearing, held within a short window that varies by state, where a judge decides whether to issue a longer final order. How long the final order lasts, which court hears it, the exact forms, and the conduct that qualifies all vary by state. This guide sets out each state's order name, filing court, emergency-order timeline, and how long a final order lasts. If you are in immediate danger, call 911; the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233. Attorney review of your petition is available through DocDraft.