Q: My mom owns her house and wants her boyfriend to move out because he has been drugging/stealing from her.
How do we go about this legally and without him hurting her? She's scared when she tells him to leave that he's going to get angry and try to hurt her. The last time she called the police on him, he told the police they were married and made it seem like she had mental issues, which she absolutely does not have, she was just scared. Should I bring the police with me when I go and then she can just tell him then in case he does decide to try to hurt her? He's over 6ft tall & weighs about 250lbs or more and he's already been drugging her and she thinks he's been stealing money from her & she's more around 5ft and 100lbs plus she has medical issues (just had back surgery a couple months ago)
A:
Hello.
We are sorry to hear about these problems that your mother is having. No one should ever feel unsafe in their home.
The first thing that you should do is go down to your County Family Court, and speak to the Clerk of Court there. Tell them that you need an emergency petition for an Order of Protection. Since your mother and her Boyfriend are cohabitating, a circuit Family Court judge needs to hear the matter. They can help you to file this and, if it is granted, he will then be required to move out. This order is temporary, and a date will be set for a permanent order. The temporary order cannot be for less than 6 months, but it cannot be for more than 12. This is to give the court time to docket the issue.
While this is occurring, your mother should also move to evict him permanently. This can be done at the County Magistrate's Court, and the Clerks of Court there can help with the necessary paperwork. Should the Temp. Order of Protection expire before a permanent hearing can be heard with COVID, this gives extra protection by assuring that he cannot return to the home, so long as he has been evicted from the residence.
We hope that this helps. If you feel that our office may be of further help, please don't hesitate to contact us.
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