DV Laws & Bills
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Bills & Laws To Help Protective Parents
Family court reform to protect protective parents should put child safety first.
That means use evidence-based risk assessments; train judges, GALs, and custody evaluators on domestic violence and coercive control; address safety risks before any parental alienation claims; fund supervised visitation and safe exchanges; stop litigation abuse; protect the childā€™s primary attachment; expand legal aid; and require public data reporting so courts stay accountable.
These changes help survivors, improve custody decisions, and keep kids safe.
Child-Related Relief in Protection Orders
This chart shows state laws that allow protection orders to include decisions about custody, parenting time, child support, or other child-related matters. For child support, the chart only lists laws that let payments go directly to the petitioner (not to third parties like mortgage companies, childcare providers, or other bill payments).
Click Here to See the ChartState Custody Laws and Domestic Violence
This chart shows state laws that create a rebuttable presumptionā€”meaning the court assumes, unless proven otherwiseā€”that giving sole or joint custody (physical or legal) to a domestic violence perpetrator is not in the childā€™s best interests. Information is current as of December 31, 2014.
