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Maine Courts

PROTECTION FROM ABUSE

JUDGE HORTON EXPLAINS THE PROCESS
IN TWENTY VIDEO CLIPS

	Judge Horton's Introduction		If you are the Defendant		Orders by Agreement
	Filing a Protection From Abuse Complaint		Getting an Attorney		What Goes in an Order by Agreement? Look at the form
	Who Can File a Case and What is Abuse?		The Court Hearing Date What Happens if I Don't Appear?		The Trial What Evidence to Present
	What if the Plaintiff and Defendant are Parents?		The Court Hearing Witnesses, Documents, Rules of Evidence		Testifying Calling Witnesses Cross Examination
	What Must be in the Complaint? Look at the court forms		If the Defendant Needs More Time to Prepare		Orders Involving Children
	Getting a Temporary Order of Protection.		You Should be in Court on the Court Hearing Date		The Court Decision Appeals
	Serving Papers on the Defendant		What Happens in Court on the Hearing Date?

COURT FORMS

These forms are interactive and can be filled out on your computer if you have a program called Acrobat Reader or Adobe Reader. It's free and can be downloaded from the Adobe website:

The two forms you will need to start a protection from abuse case in court are the Complaint and the Protection Order Service Information form to help the sheriff or police know where and how to serve papers on the defendant. If you want to keep your address confidential, you should also file an Affidavit for Confidential Address. These forms are interactive and can be filled out on your computer, or printed and filled out by hand.

If you and the defendant have children, you might also want the Child Support Affidavit and Child Support Worksheet, although the Judge may want to fill those forms out on the court day.

Other Useful Information

Important Notice: Doing your own court case without a lawyer is not always a good idea. Before going ahead, you may want to ask for advice and support from your nearest domestic violence project (internet link to information).

Follow this link for information how to contact Pine Tree Legal Assistance.

Follow this one for the Maine State Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service.

And we suggest that you read Protection from Abuse: How the Law Works in Maine.

This disk also includes the wording of the Protection From Abuse statute.