Domestic violence and divorce in Wyoming: two courts, one family.
When a marriage ends with violence, or with the fear of it, two cases run at once. The protection order is heard in Circuit Court within days and decides who sleeps in the house tonight. The divorce is heard in District Court over months and decides everything else. Wyoming's custody statute tells the judge to count abuse against the parent who committed it, and I represent spouses on both sides of that finding.
Call or text me. Clients get my cell number from day one, and I answer. Just been served? Here's what happens next.
Three things the statutes settle.
A household member who swears to specific acts of domestic abuse may petition the Circuit Court, with no filing fee and no divorce required first (W.S. § 35-21-103). If the petition shows a danger of further abuse, a temporary order issues at once and a hearing follows within seventy-two hours (W.S. § 35-21-104).
In deciding custody the court "shall consider evidence of spousal abuse or child abuse as being contrary to the best interest of the children," and where family violence is found it must arrange visitation to protect the children and the abused spouse (W.S. § 20-2-201(c)). The same rule governs temporary custody (W.S. § 20-2-112(b)).
A protection order lasts up to three years, can be extended, and "the filing of an action for divorce shall not supersede" it (W.S. § 35-21-106(b)). Willful violation is a crime. It does not change title to property or divide it (W.S. § 35-21-105(d)); the divorce does that.
The first week.
What happens, and in what order
A domestic call in Teton County usually ends with an arrest and a bond condition barring contact. Whether or not there is an arrest, the spouse who was hurt or threatened can walk into the Circuit Court clerk's office, fill out the petition form, and have a temporary order in hand the same day. That order can put the petitioner in sole possession of the house, bar contact, forbid moving the children, and restrain joint property. The respondent is served and the hearing is set within seventy-two hours, or as soon as the court can hold it.
The hearing is short and it matters more than its length suggests. The court decides by a preponderance of the evidence whether domestic abuse occurred, and if it did, enters an order for up to three years with whatever conditions safety requires. Both spouses should have a lawyer there. The testimony is recorded, and it will be read again in the divorce and, if there is a criminal charge, by the prosecutor.
In Teton County the divorce follows in District Court before Judge Owens, who enters restraining orders on assets and on removing children from the jurisdiction immediately on request, and who wants a short, direct showing of why swift action is needed when a child's safety is the reason for a temporary order; a verified motion is encouraged, and an ex parte request requires a call to her judicial assistant. If custody is contested at a hearing or trial, she requires a guardian ad litem. The courthouse page has the current locations of both courts.
- 01Day 0: sworn petition filed in Circuit Court; temporary order entered ex parte if the facts show a danger of further abuse (§ 35-21-104(a)(i))
- 02Within 72 hours: hearing on continuing the order; preponderance of the evidence; order of up to three years (§ 35-21-104(a)(iii), § 35-21-106(b))
- 03The order's terms: sole possession of the home, no contact, no removing the children, no moving joint property, temporary custody, support, confidential address (§ 35-21-105)
- 04Divorce complaint filed in District Court; the applicant for temporary custody must disclose any protection order from another court (§ 20-2-112(b))
- 05Temporary orders in the divorce: support and fees, custody, restraints on either spouse and on property (§ 20-2-111, -112); often incorporating the protection order's terms
- 06Disclosures, a guardian ad litem if custody is contested, mediation if either party requests it, and a trial setting
- 07The decree: custody in well defined terms, with visitation arranged to protect the children and the abused spouse where violence is found (§ 20-2-201(c), (d))
The protection-order statute is the Domestic Violence Protection Act, W.S. § 35-21-101 through 35-21-112. "Household member" includes spouses, former spouses, people living or formerly living together as if married, co-parents, and current or former dating partners (§ 35-21-102(a)(iv)).
What the finding changes in the divorce.
- Custody and visitation. Evidence of spousal or child abuse is, by statute, contrary to the children's best interests. It does not end a parent's rights, but it weighs against joint or shared custody and shapes the schedule: supervised exchanges, no overnights for a period, a treatment or sobriety condition. The custody page explains the other factors.
- The house. Exclusive use while the case is pending comes from the protection order, the temporary orders, or both. At the decree, the house is divided like any other asset, and the court may consider "the respective merits of the parties" (W.S. § 20-2-114(a)). See division of assets.
- Support and fees. A spouse cut off from the accounts can be ordered support and the money to carry the case from the day of filing (W.S. § 20-2-111), and the protection order can order child support and temporary support on its own. The alimony page covers the longer term.
- The record. A protection-order finding, a criminal conviction, or a dismissal is evidence in the custody case, and the custody case is evidence in the next round of modification. Assume that everything said in either court will be read in the other.
Safety planning, coercive control, the accused spouse, and the two courts.
Planning the exit, abuse that leaves no bruise, defending against a false petition, and how the Circuit Court and District Court cases fit together
Planning the exit
The most dangerous period in an abusive marriage is the weeks around leaving, and the legal plan has to respect that. Before any filing, a client and I work out where she and the children will be, what documents and money she can take without a confrontation, and whether the petition should be filed before or after she goes. The statute is written for this: leaving the household to avoid abuse does not cost a petitioner the right to an order, the court can keep her address confidential, and the order can transfer a phone number to her. Jackson is a small town with one hospital and a handful of schools, and the plan has to account for that. The Community Safety Network in Jackson provides advocates and shelter.
Abuse that leaves no bruise
The protection-order statute defines domestic abuse as physical harm, attempts and threats of it, unreasonable restraint of liberty, placing a household member in reasonable fear of imminent harm, and forced sexual activity. It does not use the words coercive control or financial abuse. That does not make those patterns irrelevant; it means they are proved through what they produce. Threats to take the children, to cut off the money, to have a spouse deported, and a spouse who is not permitted to see the accounts or leave the house alone, are evidence of fear and restraint under the statute, and they go to the custody factors and the "respective merits" in the divorce whether or not they support an order on their own. Financial control in particular is answered by the divorce court: sworn disclosure under W.S. § 20-2-112(a), support and fees under § 20-2-111, and restraints on moving property.
The accused spouse
I also represent spouses who are served with a petition they say is false, or exaggerated, or built on one bad night. The statute does not let the court deny a petition because the petitioner withdrew an earlier one, or because the petitioner also committed some abuse, and it forbids a single mutual order; each spouse who wants protection must file and prove a petition of their own. The respondent's defense is the hearing. It comes within days, the burden is a preponderance, and the respondent who treats it as a formality will have a three-year order, a temporary custody award against him, and a finding that follows him into the divorce. If there is a criminal charge, the two cases have to be planned together, because testimony at the protection-order hearing is admissible in the criminal case; the assault and domestic violence defense page covers that side, the no-contact condition, and the federal firearm consequences of a conviction or an order.
How the two courts fit together
The protection order is a Circuit Court case with its own number and its own judge. The divorce is a District Court case before Judge Owens. Neither court can undo the other's orders, and both will usually be in force at once. In practice the District Court's temporary orders adopt the protective terms, add the financial ones, and set a parenting schedule in the detail the protection order did not attempt. When the decree is entered, the protection order continues unless the Circuit Court modifies or ends it, and a decree that gives the respondent visitation does not license contact the order forbids; exchanges go through a third party or a protected setting. The step-by-step page shows where each of these falls in the calendar.
Asked about domestic violence and divorce in Wyoming.
How do I get a protection order in Teton County?
What can a protection order do about the house and the children?
How does domestic violence affect custody in a Wyoming divorce?
Does a protection order end when the divorce is filed?
My spouse is making false abuse allegations to get custody. What do I do?
Can I get the divorce court to keep my spouse out of the house without a protection order?
Start with a confidential conversation with Aaron Herzberg.
A consultation is a scheduled working session, in person in Jackson or by video, in which we go through your situation and I tell you what I would do. It is a paid working session, not a sales pitch. The fee is quoted when we schedule. Your note reaches me directly, my office runs the conflicts check and puts the meeting on my calendar, and you can call or text any time.
40 E Simpson Ave, Jackson, WY 83001 · by appointment · video consultations for out-of-state clients · info@puzzlegroup.com