Domestic violence is assaultive and controlling behaviors, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic control, committed by individuals against family members. According to the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner. One family living through a domestic violence event may need to access multiple court systems within the Superior Court – criminal, family law, juvenile, probate, and civil.
For Family Law Cases, a person requesting a restraining order needs to potentially fill out more than 13 different forms to initiate the request. The amount of paperwork can be overwhelming for a self-represented litigant lacking support, even without considering the emotional, physical, and mental stress from the domestic violence.
We are pleased to announce the Court’s new free on-line system for preparing these legal forms. A person using the on-line program needs to only answer simple and relevant questions. The program virtually guides the user through the process of completing the forms.
The user also has the option to electronically transmit their completed paperwork to the court for filing 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. All documents submitted will be processed on that (or the next) business day and the requester will be notified via the website regarding the time and location for their hearing date with the judge. This will serve to eliminate the need to come to the court for the purpose of obtaining, completing and filing the request.
The Superior Court believes that implementing this new technology for remote access will provide the public with an important resource to conserve time, money, and effort. San Bernardino County’s area exceeds 20,000 square miles, so travelling extended distances to reach the family law courthouses to wait in long lines can be challenging, even more so when time and money are limited.
The tool may be accessed from any computer with on-line access and can be found on the court’s website (www.sb-court.org) at: http://sb-ourt.org/Divisions/FamilyLaw/DomesticViolence/OnlineRequestDVRestrainingOrder.asp
Categorized in: Court Notices
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