Ex Parte Orders in New Hampshire: Filing, Service, and Hearing

In New Hampshire, ex parte orders are emergency court orders a judge can issue based on one party’s sworn petition, without giving the other side advance notice, when the petitioner shows an immediate and present danger. They arise most often in domestic violence, stalking, and emergency child custody cases. The order takes effect right away and stays in force until a full hearing where the other party can respond, which the court must hold within 30 days of the petition or within 10 days after the respondent is served, whichever is later.¹

When a Judge Will Issue One

Three statutes carry most of the emergency work in New Hampshire, and each requires a specific kind of danger.

Domestic Violence

RSA 173-B:4 lets a judge grant temporary protective relief when the petitioner shows an immediate and present danger of abuse.² The statutory definition of abuse is wide: assault, criminal threatening, sexual assault, interference with freedom, destruction of property, unauthorized entry, and harassment, among other conduct. The conduct has to come from a family member, household member, or a current or former intimate partner, and it has to represent a credible present threat. Judges look at the full picture, including older incidents that establish a pattern, not only the most recent one.

Emergency Child Custody

Under RSA 461-A:9, after a parental rights petition is filed, the family court can issue ex parte temporary orders involving a minor child when there is immediate risk from abuse, neglect, or credible threat of abduction.³ A domestic violence petition under RSA 173-B:4 can also include temporary custody, so a parent leaving an abusive situation can seek both personal protection and custody in the same filing.²

Stalking

Stalking victims file a civil petition under RSA 633:3-a in the circuit court where either party lives. The procedures, available relief, and penalties track the domestic violence framework in RSA 173-B, and the same immediate-danger showing supports ex parte temporary relief.⁴

What the Order Can Require

An ex parte order in New Hampshire can do much more than tell someone to stay away. Under RSA 173-B:4, the court can bar the respondent from contacting the petitioner or coming near their home, workplace, or school; grant the petitioner exclusive possession of a shared residence even if the respondent has a legal interest in it; award temporary custody of minor children and restrict or supervise visitation, including at a supervised center with security personnel; order the respondent to surrender all firearms, ammunition, and deadly weapons to a peace officer; prohibit the respondent from taking, damaging, or hiding the petitioner’s property and grant exclusive use of a vehicle or household items; and give the petitioner exclusive care of any pets.²

The range reflects how these situations rarely involve just one kind of harm. Housing, transportation, custody, and weapons access can all be handled in a single order, before the respondent knows the petition was filed.

How to File

Filing starts with a sworn affidavit describing the specific facts that justify emergency relief. Vague statements about feeling unsafe rarely persuade a judge. Strong affidavits include dates, describe specific incidents, and tie the respondent’s conduct to the statutory definitions of abuse or stalking. Photographs, screenshots of threatening messages, medical records, and police reports strengthen the petition, though a sufficiently detailed affidavit can stand on its own.

Domestic violence petitions go to the family division of the circuit court. Stalking petitions go to the circuit court where either party lives.⁴ Emergency custody requests under RSA 461-A:9 are handled in family court.

There is no filing fee and no fee for service of process on a domestic violence petition, and the petitioner has the right to file without an attorney.¹ Court clerks can supply the forms. Once the petition is filed, a judge reviews it, often the same day in urgent cases. The court can even issue a temporary order by telephone or fax when circumstances require it.²

Nights, Weekends, and Holidays

If danger arises when the courts are closed, contact your local police department. An officer can help you complete the required form and reach a judge by telephone. If the judge finds immediate danger, the emergency order can issue over the phone. Orders granted this way are valid only through the next business day, so you must go to the courthouse and file a petition for a standard temporary order as soon as it reopens.

Service on the Respondent

Because the respondent had no notice when the judge signed the order, New Hampshire requires personal service afterward. A sheriff or police officer delivers the order directly to the respondent. This is not a formality. Enforceability turns on the respondent knowing the order exists.

If the respondent cannot be found right away, officers try again at different times and known addresses. When someone is actively avoiding service, courts can authorize alternative methods. Officers file documentation with the court showing the date, time, and method of service, which becomes important if a violation is charged later. If the order includes a firearms surrender provision, officers can take weapons at the point of service.

The Full Hearing

The ex parte order is temporary. It holds protections in place while both sides prepare for a hearing where the respondent can present a defense. Under RSA 173-B:3, the court must hold that hearing within 30 days of the petition or within 10 days after the respondent is served, whichever is later.¹ Quick service usually means the hearing lands within the 30-day window. If the respondent is hard to locate, the hearing shifts to satisfy the 10-day-after-service requirement.

At the hearing the petitioner has to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the abuse or stalking occurred and that continued protection is warranted. Testimony, police reports, medical records, and threatening communications all matter. The respondent has full rights to present evidence, call witnesses, cross-examine, and testify.

Petitioners sometimes assume the affidavit will do the work at the hearing and arrive without additional evidence or witnesses. That is a mistake. The judge decides from scratch whether to issue a final order, so treat the hearing as the real proceeding. For respondents, the same is true in reverse: a final order can affect housing, firearms rights, custody, and background checks, and this hearing is the primary chance to be heard.

How Long It Lasts and How to Extend

The ex parte order remains in effect until the full hearing. A final protective order issued after that hearing lasts one year.⁵

Before that year runs out, the petitioner can file a motion to extend by showing good cause, meaning the respondent still poses a credible threat. The first extension can last up to one additional year. Subsequent extensions can last up to five years each. The respondent is entitled to a hearing on any extension request within 30 days.⁶

File the extension motion before the current order expires. If it lapses first, you cannot simply extend it. You have to file a new petition for temporary relief, which restarts the process and creates a gap in protection.

Firearms

State and federal firearms rules apply at different points. New Hampshire’s ex parte order can require the respondent to surrender all firearms, ammunition, and deadly weapons to a peace officer as soon as the temporary order issues.² The federal ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) makes it a crime to possess a firearm or ammunition while subject to a qualifying protective order, but that federal prohibition applies only after a hearing where the respondent received actual notice and had an opportunity to participate.⁷ So the state surrender obligation attaches at the ex parte stage, and the federal possession ban attaches once the final order is in place.

Penalties for Violating the Order

Knowingly violating a protective order issued under RSA 173-B is a Class A misdemeanor.⁸ Under RSA 651:2, a Class A misdemeanor carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.⁹ The statute prohibits reducing the charge to a lesser offense.

Officers can arrest a respondent without a warrant on probable cause that a violation occurred.¹⁰ Common violations include direct or third-party contact with the petitioner, showing up at the petitioner’s home or workplace, and refusing to surrender firearms. Each violation is a separate offense, so five prohibited text messages can support five charges. If the underlying conduct is itself a crime, such as assault, criminal threatening, or trespass, those charges stack on top of the protective order violation.

Changing or Ending the Order

Either party can ask the court to change an order. The petitioner might want to add a new address to the stay-away provisions or adjust custody arrangements. The respondent might argue the threat has ended and ask the court to lift the order. Whoever is asking has to file a written motion explaining what should change and why. The court typically holds a hearing, and judges weigh the respondent’s compliance, any new incidents, and whether continued enforcement still serves a protective purpose.⁶

One point that catches people out: an order stays enforceable against the respondent until the court formally modifies or vacates it, even if both parties agree to resume contact. A petitioner who invites the respondent to dinner has not dissolved anything. If police arrive and find the respondent there, the respondent can still be arrested. The order only changes when the court changes it.

If You Leave New Hampshire

A valid New Hampshire protective order is enforceable in every other state, tribe, and territory. Under the Violence Against Women Act, jurisdictions must give full faith and credit to protective orders from elsewhere and enforce them as if they were local.¹¹ The order does not need to be registered in the new state. The issuing court must have had jurisdiction, and the respondent must have received reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard. Ex parte orders qualify as long as the follow-up hearing is scheduled within the time state law requires. If you are traveling or relocating, carry a copy of the order with you. Officers can verify it through national databases, but a physical copy avoids delays.

1
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 173-B:3 – Commencement of Proceedings; Hearing
2
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 173-B:4 – Temporary Relief
3
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 461-A:9 – Ex Parte Orders
4
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 633:3-a – Stalking
5
New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Domestic Violence Protective Orders (RSA 173-B)
6
New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Chapter 9 – Modification and Extension of Domestic Violence Orders
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
8
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 173-B:9 – Violation of Protective Order; Penalty
9
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 651:2 – Sentences and Limitations
10
New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Chapter 10 – Violations of Protective Orders and Contempt
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders