Maine Restraining Orders

For the purposes of filing for a protection from abuse order, Maine law defines “abuse” in two ways:

1. Abuse by a family member, household member, or dating partner happens when one of those people does one or more of the following acts to you or your minor child:

• attempts to cause or actually causes physical injury or offensive physical contact;
• attempts to cause or actually causes sexual assault;
• commits stalking;
• attempts to or actually threatens, harasses, or torments you or your child, making you afraid of being physically hurt. If the abuser does this through words, s/he must consciously ignore a large (substantial) risk that his/her words would reasonably make someone afraid of being physically hurt;
• stops you or your child from doing things you have a right to do;
• forces you or your child to do things you have a right not to do;
• substantially restricts your or your child’s movements without consent or legal authority by:
  • removing you or your child from your home, business, or school;
  • moving you or your child far (a substantial distance) from where you were; or
  • holding you or your child captive;
• threatens to commit a violent crime, making you or your child reasonably afraid s/he will do it;
• repeatedly follows you or your child, or shows up at or near your or your child’s home, school, work, or business, without a good reason (“reasonable cause”);
• shares certain private images of you or your child without consent, which is known as the unauthorized dissemination of certain private images;
• engages in aggravated sex trafficking or sex trafficking; or
• does one of the following against a minor child:
  • sexual exploitation of a minor;
  • dissemination of sexually explicit material; or
  • harassment by telephone or electronic communication device, but only the acts involving sending an image or video of a sexual act (listed in paragraphs (1)(A-1) and (1)(A-2) of the law).¹

2. Abuse by anyone, related to you or not, happens when the abuser does any of the following:

• attempts to cause or actually causes sexual assault;
• commits stalking;
• shares certain private images of you without your consent, known as the unauthorized dissemination of certain private images;
• commits nonconsensual removal of or tampering with a condom;
• engages in aggravated sex trafficking or sex trafficking; and
• does one of the following acts against a minor child:
  • sexual exploitation of a minor;
  • dissemination of sexually explicit material;
  • harassment by telephone or electronic communication device, but only involving sending an image or video of a sexual act (listed the acts in paragraphs (1)(A-1) and (1)(A-2) of the law).²

The actions listed in number 2 can count as abuse for getting a protection order even if the abuser isn’t related to you.

Additional definitions of abuse may apply if:

• the victim is 60 years or older, or has a disability that makes him/her a “dependent” or incapacitated adult; and
• the abuser is an extended family member or an unpaid care provider.

For more details, see our Protection from Abuse Orders (for elderly/disabled) page.³

If you are being harassed in a way not listed above, you may still be eligible for a protection from harassment order. See our Protection from Harassment Orders section for more information.

¹ ME ST T. 19-A §§ 4102(1); 4103(1)
² ME ST T. 19-A § 4103(1), (2)
³ ME ST T. 19-A § 4103(3)

In a temporary, ex parte protection from abuse order, the judge can:

1. make an order concerning the parental rights and responsibilities relating to the minor children living in the home;
2. make an order concerning the care, custody, or control of any animal owned or kept by you, the abuser, or a minor child living in the household;
3. prohibit the abuser from injuring or threatening to injure any such animal;
4. can order the defendant to not:
   • restrain, threaten, assault, molest, harass, attack you or otherwise disturb your peace;
   • enter your home, including a home you share with the abuser;
   • follow you or be near your home, school, business or place of employment repeatedly and without reasonable cause:
   • take, sell, destroy or damage property in which you may have a legal interest;
   • have any direct or indirect contact with you, including by social media;
   • injure or threaten to injure any animal owned, kept or held by either party or by a minor child living in the household (and the judge can make an order regarding the care/custody of the animal); and/or
   • engage in the unauthorized dissemination of certain private images;
   • destroy, transfer or tamper with your passport or other immigration documents; and
   • have or possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon if the complaint demonstrates:

• abuse that involves a firearm or other dangerous weapon; or
• a heightened risk of immediate abuse to you or a minor child. To decide this, the judge must consider whether:
  • the temporary order of protection is not likely to protect you if the abuser can have firearms;
  • the defendant has violated orders of protection;
  • past or present abuse to a victim resulted in injury;
  • the abuse occurred in public; and
  • the abuse includes:
    • threats of suicide or homicide;
    • killing or threatening to kill any animal owned or kept by you, the abuser, or a minor child living in the home;
    • an escalation of violence;
    • stalking behavior or extreme obsession;
    • sexual violence;
    • excessive alcohol or drug use; and
    • abuse against a pregnant victim.¹

A final protection from abuse order can do the following:

1. order the defendant to not:
   • threaten, assault, molest, harass, attack or otherwise abuse you and/or any minor children in the home;
   • have or possess a firearm or dangerous weapon;
   • use, attempt to use, or threaten to use any physical force that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury against you or any minor children living in the home;
   • enter your home or premises;
   • repeatedly and without reasonable cause do any of the following:
     • follow you; 
     • be near your home, school, business, or place of employment;
   • stalk you;
   • have any direct or indirect contact with you, including by social media;
   • take, sell, destroy or damage property in which you may have a legal interest – and the judge can order the division of personal property and household goods/furniture;
   • injure or threaten to injure any animal owned, kept or held by either party or by a minor child living in the household (and the judge can make an order regarding the care/custody of the animal);
2. order the defendant to remove, destroy or return any “private images,” as defined in the unauthorized dissemination of certain private images, and, if necessary, order the defendant to pay any costs associated with removal, destruction or return of the private images;
3. if you and the defendant jointly own or lease your home, or if one party solely owns or leases the property but s/he has a duty to support the other party or the minor children living in the home, the judge can:
   • give (or restore) possession of the home to one party, excluding the other; or
   • if both parties agree, the party who has a duty to support the other can provide suitable alternate housing;
4. order the termination of a life insurance policy that is owned by the defendant if you are the person whose life is insured;
5. award some or all temporary parental rights and responsibilities, or temporary rights of contact with regard to the minor children, or both;
6. order the defendant to pay temporary support for you and/or your child;
7. order the defendant to pay you for losses suffered as a direct result of the abuse (i.e., loss of earnings, injury to you, medical bills, damaged property or moving expenses);
8. grant custody and care of any pets in the household that are owned by you, the defendant, or a child in the home to you;
9. order the defendant to get counseling or attend a certified batterers’ intervention program;
10. order the defendant to pay your court costs and/or attorney’s fees;
11. if the defendant committed sex trafficking or aggravated sex trafficking, order him/her to pay money damages related to the return or restoration of your passport/immigration documents and any debts you have that came from the trafficking relationship (in addition to any other orders that the judge thinks are necessary or appropriate related to the trafficking); and
12. order anything else you need to stay safe.²

Note: If you file a petition that gets dismissed at a hearing where both parties are present, the judge can order you to pay court costs and/or the defendant’s attorney’s fees if the judge rules that your complaint (petition) is without a legal basis (frivolous).³

¹ ME ST T. 19-A § 4108(2), (3)
² ME ST T. 19-A § 4110(3)
³ ME ST T. 19-A § 4110(3)(R)

When you and the abuser live in different states, the judge may not have “personal jurisdiction” (power) over an out-of-state abuser. This means that the court may not be able to grant an order against him/her.

There are a few ways that a court can have personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state abuser:

1. The abuser has a substantial connection to your state. Perhaps the abuser regularly travels to your state to visit you, for business, to see extended family, or the abuser lived in your state and recently fled.
2. One of the acts of abuse “happened” in your state. Perhaps the abuser sends you threatening texts or harassing phone calls from another state but you read the messages or answer the calls while you are in your state. The judge could decide that the abuse “happened” to you while you were in your state. It may also be possible that the abuser was in your state when s/he abused you s/he but has since left the state.
3. If you file your petition and the abuser gets served with the court petition while s/he is in your state, this is another way for the court to get jurisdiction.

However, even if none of the above apply to your situation, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get an order. If you file, you may be granted an order on consent or the judge may find other circumstances that allow the order to be granted.

You can read more about personal jurisdiction in our Court System Basics - Personal Jurisdiction section.

Note: If the judge in your state refuses to issue an order, you can file for an order in the courthouse in the state where the abuser lives. However, remember that you will likely need to file the petition in person and attend various court dates, which could be difficult if the abuser’s state is far away.