My 19 year old son just had a restraining order filed against

Good morning,

I'm sorry to hear of your dilemma.

Have you, by chance, left out some very important information? Perhaps that your son had a previous relationship with the 17 year old?

The court has the ability to restrain the actions of any person--such ability is not limited to adults.

Granted, it would be worthless for a court to restrain a 2 year old--for obvious reasons, but anyone may be restrained, and anyone may apply for a restraining order.

I do understand your attorney's questioning the Order. Generally, minors are incapable of bring an action in court--they must be represented by a guardian ad litem. There are a couple of possibilities here. There may have been an adult representative that applied for the restraining order for the 17 year old. Or, it is possible that the 17 year old is legally emancipated--via court order or because he is married. A minor is considered to be “emancipated” if he has been married, has entered military service, has a child or is pregnant, or has been previously declared by a court or an administrative agency to be emancipated

Additionally, under New Jersey law, a restraining order can be obtained by a minor themselves as regards XXXXX XXXXX Here is a quote from a NJ legal site, with the link below:

• A spouse or former spouse;
• A person you have a child in common with, or expect to have a child in common with if you are currently pregnant; or
• A person you've had a dating relationship with.

http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?id=557&state_code=NJ&open_id=11185

Thank you very much for having allowed me to assist you. It would be greatly appreciated if you would click the green Accept icon so that I can receive credit for having assisted you.

Best regards,

Doug

Expert:	LawTalk
Pos. Feedback:	99.2 %
Accepts:	7060

Attorney

I am a practicing attorney with more than 27 years of experience in the legal field.

Ask this Expert a Question >