TPO vs visitation

[bananas]

Ok, another short and sweet for you:

Kate was granted an ex parte TPO against her mother and stepfather.  Her mother and stepfather recently refused to return the child after babysitting for the day.  Kate had to call the police and have them stand by so she could get her child back.  The grandparents have threatened to kidnap the child, so Kate felt a TPO would solve the problem.

Kate's mother and stepfather have since retained an attorney and want to present their side of the story in a TPO hearing later this month.  Kate's mother and stepfather have also filed a petition for visitation of Kate's six year old child in juvenile court.  The hearing for that will be in June.

Kate is unmarried and the bio father has not contacted Kate or the child since right after the child was born.  The grandparents have listed the bio father as a defendant along with Kate, and have listed the child as a petitioner.  I assume this is standard.

QUESTION:
If the TPO goes forward and is granted, will this stand alone as an automatic preclusion to the granparents getting visitation with the child?

[socrateaser]

>If the TPO goes forward and is granted, will this stand alone
>as an automatic preclusion to the granparents getting
>visitation with the child?

Nope, a TPO is temporary. Even if it's granted, the grandparents could have it set aside later by a judgment on their petition for visitation.

[bananas]

Then what the heck is a TPO good for?!?!?  Just a rhetorical question really (unless you have a great answer).

The grandparents in this case have threatened to abscond with the child to another state, which is why Kate wanted a TPO.  So I guess the thing for Kate to do would be to bring this up in the visitation hearing, right?

And Kate definitely needs a good attorney, right?

[socrateaser]

>Then what the heck is a TPO good for?!?!?  Just a rhetorical
>question really (unless you have a great answer).

A temporary protective order attempts to mitigate imminent risk of irreparable harm, that cannot wait until final judgment. A final judgment terminates any temporary order that are pending in the same case and renders a final decision with regard to all issues, although a temporary order can be expressly extended via the judgment (e.g., "the court orders that alll temporary orders pending in this matter shall become permanent injunctions...").

>
>The grandparents in this case have threatened to abscond with
>the child to another state, which is why Kate wanted a TPO.
>So I guess the thing for Kate to do would be to bring this up
>in the visitation hearing, right?

No, if you fear that the grandparents intend to run with the kids, then you need to request a TPO/TRO ordering that the child(ren) not be removed from the jurisdiction.

However, the court can later find, after discovery and trial of all of the facts, that their is no further risk of flight, and therefore set aside the temporary order.

And, yes, a good attorney would be, well...good.