Q: I received papers from a fake custody lawsuit from my ex husband, whom I have a restraining order against.

A: Yes this is harassment which is a violation of the restraining order. Do you have a Temporary Restraining Order(TRO) or a Final Restraining Order (FRO)? If you have an only a TRO you need to to retain an experienced matrimonial attorney who has extensive domestic violence trial experience to obtain a Final Restraining Order. Pick the best attorney you can find and remember one rule: a good attorney is generally never cheap, and a cheap attorney is generally never good so don't choose based on price. With modern technology, you can be represented by any high-quality attorney in New Jersey irrespective of geography.

A: The fact that the court system has told you that it does not have his application in the system (at this moment) does not mean that his application is a fake.

Presuming that he legitimately filed an application but failed to pay the filing fee or failed in any of a million other ways, the clerk's office could have kicked it back to him based on the deficiency.

There is no harm in you reaching out to the county prosecutor's office to inquire as to whether the submission of the application constitutes a fake communication with you. Show them the paperwork and let them make the inquiry to find out if he actually filed an application with the court. Presuming that he did not file it, then you can ask the prosecutor's office to view his actions as a form of violation and to take legal action against him.

Presuming that he actually did file the application with the court, you still have a right to ask the prosecutor's office to look into him sending the paperwork directly to you since there are procedures in place to prevent such actions and then again, you can ask whether his submission directly to you constitutes a violation of the final restraining order and whether they will take action against him for doing so.