How Oregon’s Family Abuse Prevention Act protects families in crisis — and reshapes the custody landscape overnight. September 2026
When there is abuse in a home, Oregon law provides a fast, powerful remedy: the Family Abuse Prevention Act, codified at ORS 107.700 to 107.735 and universally known as FAPA. A FAPA restraining order can issue the same day it is requested, without the other party present — and along with its protective provisions, it can award temporary custody of children and set parenting time. That combination makes FAPA one of the most consequential tools in Oregon family law, and one of the most misunderstood.
This article explains who qualifies for a FAPA order, how the process works from petition through contested hearing, how long orders last, and — because these cases so often run alongside a divorce or custody matter — how a FAPA order interacts with the rest of your family law case. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 first; this article is about the legal process, and no article substitutes for safety.
FAPA is specific about who can use it and when. A petitioner must show three things:
Notably, “abuse” under FAPA is about physical harm and fear of it. Purely verbal conflict, financial control, or garden-variety hostility — however corrosive — generally does not qualify, and judges take the statutory definitions seriously.
A FAPA case begins with a petition, usually heard the same day or the next judicial day, ex parte — without the respondent present. If the judge finds the statutory requirements met, the order issues immediately and takes effect when the sheriff serves it on the respondent.
The order can go well beyond “stay away.” Under ORS 107.718, the court may remove the respondent from a shared home, prohibit all contact, restrain the respondent from certain places — and award temporary custody of the children to the petitioner, with parenting time for the respondent unless parenting time is not in the child’s best interests. Federal and state firearm restrictions typically follow as well.
The respondent then has a critical choice: request a hearing (in most cases within 30 days of service) to contest the order or its custody and parenting-time provisions. At that contested hearing the petitioner must prove the statutory grounds; testimony is taken, and the judge continues, modifies, or dismisses the order. Since a 2023 law took effect, FAPA orders issued or renewed now last two years unless dismissed or replaced — double the old one-year term — and can be renewed under ORS 107.725 if a reasonable fear of further abuse persists, even without a new act of abuse.
"The contested FAPA hearing is often the first evidentiary hearing in the family’s entire legal story — and the findings made there echo through everything that follows."
Because a FAPA order can award temporary custody in a matter of hours, it instantly changes the practical landscape of any divorce or custody case — existing or anticipated. Three interactions matter most.
First, the FAPA custody provisions are temporary and are eventually superseded by orders in the divorce or custody case itself; the family court can craft custody and parenting-time terms that replace FAPA’s, as it does with the temporary orders that govern pending cases. Second, the underlying findings carry long-term weight: Oregon’s custody statute directs courts to consider domestic abuse, and creates a presumption against awarding custody to a parent found to have committed it — a framework we describe in our guide to Oregon custody law. Third, violations are serious: a FAPA order is enforced by mandatory arrest and contempt, and a violation during a custody case is devastating evidence.
Two warnings, one for each side. For petitioners: a FAPA order is a shield, not a litigation tactic — judges see through orders sought for leverage, and a dismissed FAPA can damage the custody case it was meant to help. For respondents: do not ignore the order or attempt “just one call.” Request your hearing, comply strictly in the meantime, and fight the allegations in the courtroom rather than by contact.
We represent both petitioners who need protection and respondents facing orders they believe are unfounded. For petitioners, we prepare the petition and evidence so the order holds up at the contested hearing. For respondents, we move quickly to request the hearing, marshal the facts, and protect your parenting relationship while the order is in place. In both roles, we keep one eye on the larger custody case, because the two are never really separate.
If a FAPA order — needed, served, or threatened — has entered your family’s life in Eugene, Lane County, or anywhere in Oregon, schedule a consultation promptly. The timelines are short.
The contested hearing comes fast and the stakes reach far beyond the order itself. Get experienced counsel in your corner before the hearing date.
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