Th short answer is yes. Sometimes domestic violence injunctions are only entered for a certain period of time and expire automatically, obviously a one year injunction expires after a year. But sometimes a permanent injunction is entered with no set expiration date. Such an injunction stays in place through the passage of time and is an ongoing blemish on your record. Most people do not realize that a permanent injunction can still be dissolved or set aside in time, and/or under the right circumstances.
To dissolve an injunction against domestic violence the enjoined party must show changed circumstances and demonstrate that the scenario underlying the injunction no longer exists so that continuation of the injunction would serve no valid purpose. In determining whether an injunction continues to serve a valid purpose the trial court must consider whether Petitioner reasonably maintains a continuing fear of becoming the victim of domestic violence. This determination can be fact specific but the more time that passes without anything happening that would lead anyone to reasonably believe an injunction is necessary the ore chance there is that it might be dissolved by a court upon the request of the enjoined party.
Once before the court on a motion to dissolve a domestic violence injunction the injunction should be set aside if the evidence presented is not legally sufficient to show that petitioner’s fear of domestic violence is objectively reasonable. The possibility of future contact between the parties is not, without more, sufficient to conclude that the circumstances underlying the injunction remain the same. Nor is a Petitioner’s speculative fear of future violence legally insufficient to justify the never-ending existence of injunction.
So if a domestic violence injunction has been entered against you, and you want to have it set aside or dissolved, contact us to arrange a consultation so we can discuss your circumstance with you and evaluate your options to do so.