In May, 2009 Norfolk County instituted a pilot program allowing 209A Restraining Order cases opened in a District Court in Norfolk County to be transferred to the Norfolk Probate and Family Court, if there is already an action pending in that Court.   We described the program in a post entitled:   One Court instead of Two for Domestic Abuse Cases in Norfolk County – A Pilot Program . That pilot program ended 12 months later and was not renewed, which means that the courts do not currently allow the transfer of a 209A Restraining Order case from district court to the probate and family court.  This raises the question: What happens if there is a 209A Restraining Order in a district court and a Divorce case between the same parties in the Probate and Family Court? If there are no children in the case, the Probate and Family Court is unlikely to concern themselves with the Restraining Order case because the divorce is primarily dealing with financial issues which don...

Beginning May 4, 2009, Norfolk County will start a pilot program involving the interdepartmental transfer of certain abuse prevention proceedings. In plain English this means that 209A Restraining Order cases opened in a District Court in Norfolk County may be transferred to the Norfolk Probate and Family Court, if there is already an action pending in that Court. EXAMPLE: Whitney and Bobby are married and live in Dedham. One night they get into a fight and Whitney calls the police. Bobby is not arrested but is escorted from the home by the police and Whitney is provided with an emergency 209A Order for Protection from Abuse (commonly called a Restraining Order). The Restraining Order requires that both Whitney and Bobby show up at the Dedham District Court the next day to go in front of a Judge who will decide whether the Restraining Order should be extended. After a hearing the Judge extends the Restraining Order for two months ( “a cooling off period”). That afternoon, Whit...