If you’re the victim of domestic violence, it’s easy to feel alone. But you aren’t, and there are options for you to pursue legally to protect yourself and your children. A San Antonio domestic violence attorney can help you explore all your options.

What Legal Options Are Available for Domestic Violence Victims in Texas?

As the victim, you have the right to be protected. You also have the right to expect to be informed and notified about everything that’s going on with your case. You have the right to ask the criminal justice system to give you redress and also to seek financial restitution from the person who has harmed you.

These are just some of your legal rights. You also have the right to access a wide range of state resources to help you personally and financially during this time. The best way to find out about all your rights and make sure that you’re pursuing them is with the help of a San Antonio domestic violence attorney.

Right to Expect Immediate Help

Unfortunately, many domestic violence victims hesitate to call for help, often because they’re not sure if the police will believe them or if there will be repercussions from their abuser. The most important thing to know is that you have the right to help, and you have the right to expect law enforcement to come right away and protect you. You also have the right to contact an attorney, and your attorney will keep everything that you discuss private until and unless you want to proceed further, so don’t hesitate to talk to a lawyer or worry that doing so necessarily makes things go public.

Right to Protective Orders

You are allowed to apply for a protective order, and these orders can do all kinds of things. They are typically used to make it illegal for an abuser to do certain things that otherwise would be legal, such as contact you, show up at your child’s school, or even live in your shared home. Protective orders are either temporary or long-term. Temporary orders can be arranged rapidly with the help of your lawyer. They go into place to give you immediate relief, but you will need to proceed to a full hearing to lay out all the evidence and give the alleged abuser the opportunity to defend themselves in order to get a temporary protective order turned into a long-term one. 

Long-term protective orders can last up to two years at a time and can be extended for as long as needed. Anyone who violates such an order has committed a Class A misdemeanor and will suffer criminal penalties as a result. If they violate the protective orders more than once, the state can bring a felony charge.

Right to Participate in Criminal Case

Right to Be Safe in Your Own Home

Because domestic violence so often happens in the home, it can be hard to stay safe from your abuser. The law has some features designed to protect victims in these cases. If you have a lease, for instance, and you are the victim of domestic violence, you are allowed to break your lease early with no penalty regardless of the terms of the lease. Your landlord will be fined and penalized if they attempt to stop you or punish you for breaking the lease, so long as you have informed them that you are the victim of domestic violence.

Protective orders can also force your abuser out of a shared home, even if their name is on the deed. It’s important to know that this option is only available if you either own the home yourself or share ownership with the abuser. If the home belongs to them alone, you won’t be able to live in it permanently, and it can’t just be taken from them.

Right to Have Help With Your Children

Right to Pursue Financial Help

Texas understands that victims of domestic violence frequently find themselves in financial straits. Abusers often use finances to harm their victims, plus there can be many expenses related to the abuse, such as medical care costs or childcare. 

The Crime Victims Compensation Program exists to help in these situations. They can help with rent, the money needed to relocate, utilities, and moving expenses. Anyone who is a resident of Texas or a victim of a crime that occurred in Texas is eligible. Even if you are not personally eligible, if violence has been committed against your child, and they are, you can bring a claim on their behalf. Your lawyer can help you apply for this program as well.

Right to Be Hidden From Your Abuser

The law can also help you protect yourself from an abuser who may be hunting you. There are various ways that the law protects you here, but one of the most important is through the Address Confidentiality Program. If you are the victim of family violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or a member of your household is, and if you are a Texas resident or a victim relocating to the state, you’re eligible for this program. It gives you a confidential address that can’t be accessed as normal addresses are.

Talk With a San Antonio Domestic Violence Attorney Today

The law can help you, but it can be difficult to understand what your rights are and access them all without legal help. Reach out today to the Aida Rojas Law Firm in San Antonio, and let’s talk about how to protect you.