What happens if my partner is released?
If your partner is released from the police station or after a bail hearing, they must promise to follow certain rules or conditions. Not following these conditions is a crime. See What happens if my partner breaks a condition?
In most family violence cases, one of the conditions is that your partner must not contact you or communicate with you by any means, including through a family or friend. This is sometimes called a “no contact condition”.
Family violence cases usually have other common conditions. For example, they may say your partner must:
- not go near certain places, including your home and your workplace
- live with their surety
- not use alcohol or drugs
- report to the police station regularly
- continue any counselling program they are already going to
- not possess any weapons
If you and your partner have children, there may be a condition that says if your partner wants to see them, they can only contact you through another person that you both agree on. Or the condition may say they are not allowed to contact or communicate with the children unless the Children’s Aid Society or a family court order allows it.
Family court orders
You should tell the police if you have a family court order. For example, you might have a court order that says your partner has parenting time with the children. If the criminal court judge does not know about that, then your partner’s bail conditions could say something different. This might make it hard for you to follow your family court order.
You should also tell the family court or your family lawyer that your partner was arrested and released with conditions. Talk to your lawyer about how to make parenting plans that are safe for you and your children. For example, you might want to ask for a family court order that says parenting time and pick up and drop off times must be supervised. See Supervised parenting time.
Previous page Next page