Vanessa B. v. Eric M. CA6

I. BACKGROUND

In 2019, Vanessa filed for divorce and petitioned the trial court for a DVRO protecting herself, her father, and her adult son (from a prior relationship) from Eric. After a hearing, the trial court issued the restraining order. Vanessa timely applied for renewal of the restraining order, basing her request on her declaration as to “[Eric’s] activities” since the original order was issued, which caused her to “fear continued abuse” from Eric. These activities included (1) indirectly contacting Vanessa through his mother; (2) defying a court order to safely transport Vanessa’s personal belongings from the couple’s home, and instead, destroying the belongings; (3) forging Vanessa’s signature on various documents, including a deed to a house and court documents; (4) repeatedly asking Vanessa, through his attorney, to rescind the DVRO; (5) filing frivolous lawsuits against Vanessa to “intentionally disturb [her] mental peace”; and (6) stealing money from Vanessa’s son (a protected party). Vanessa asserted that if her renewal request were denied, she feared that Eric’s “abuse will increase” and that “he will show up at [Vanessa’s] house or begin to directly threaten…