How long a court order is good for depends entirely on what kind of order it is. A temporary restraining order can expire in 14 days. A final protective order usually runs one to five years. A civil money judgment is typically enforceable for around a decade. A federal judgment lien can encumber property for up to 40 years. And some orders, like the property division in a divorce decree, are final the moment they’re entered and never expire at all. The duration is almost always written on the order itself, either as a calendar date or as a triggering event.
Temporary Restraining Orders
A TRO is the shortest-lived order most people will ever receive. Under the federal rules, a judge can issue one without notifying the other side when someone shows that waiting would cause irreparable injury.1Legal Information Institute. Rule 65. Injunctions and Restraining Orders
The federal limit is 14 days from the date the order is entered. A court can extend it once for another 14 days for good cause, or longer if the restrained party agrees.1Legal Information Institute. Rule 65. Injunctions and Restraining Orders Most state courts follow similar timeframes. The TRO is meant to hold things in place only until the court can hold a full hearing on a longer-lasting order. If the person who obtained it doesn’t follow through with that hearing, it dissolves.
Preliminary and Permanent Injunctions
A preliminary injunction is issued after both sides have had notice and a chance to be heard.1Legal Information Institute. Rule 65. Injunctions and Restraining Orders It lasts until the underlying lawsuit is resolved, which can take months or years. When the case ends, the preliminary injunction is either replaced by a permanent injunction or dissolved.
A “permanent” injunction doesn’t necessarily last forever, but it remains in effect indefinitely unless the court changes it. The party subject to the order can ask the court to end it by showing that changed circumstances make continued enforcement unfair. Federal Rule 60(b)(5) allows this when “it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application.”2Legal Information Institute. Rule 60. Relief from a Judgment or Order Many permanent injunctions stay in place for years or decades, particularly in environmental, civil rights, and business cases.
Final Protective and Restraining Orders
Final protective orders are issued after a hearing where both sides present evidence, most often in domestic violence, stalking, and harassment cases. In most states, they last between one and five years. Judges can issue longer orders in serious cases, and a few states allow lifetime protective orders when the threat is severe enough.
The person protected by the order can usually ask the court to renew it. Renewal typically doesn’t require proving a new act of violence; courts generally grant it when there’s good cause to believe the threat continues. Timing is what matters: the renewal request has to be filed before the existing order expires. Let it lapse and you start over from scratch with a new petition.
Family Law Orders
Family law orders cover child support, custody, alimony, and property division, and their durations differ sharply by category.
Child Support and Custody
Child support generally lasts until the child turns 18 and is considered emancipated. Many states extend the obligation if the child is still in high school full-time, pushing the end date to graduation or age 19. Some states also require continued support for children with disabilities who cannot become self-supporting. Emancipation can happen earlier if a minor marries, joins the military, or a court grants early emancipation for other reasons.
Custody orders follow the same arc, running until the child reaches adulthood. Both custody and support orders can be modified at any time if circumstances change substantially.
Divorce Decrees and Alimony
A divorce decree that divides property is a final judgment. Once the court splits assets and debts, that division is generally permanent and very difficult to undo. You typically cannot modify a property split just because your financial situation changed. The narrow exceptions involve fraud, hidden assets, or similar misconduct during the original proceedings.
Alimony sits in the middle. It’s part of the decree but can often be modified based on changed circumstances, such as the receiving spouse remarrying or either party’s income shifting significantly. Some alimony orders have a built-in end date; others continue indefinitely until the court modifies them.
Civil Money Judgments and Liens
If you won a lawsuit and the court awarded you money, that judgment doesn’t last forever. Every jurisdiction sets a deadline for collecting on it. Miss the window and the judgment becomes unenforceable.
Most states give you somewhere around 10 years to collect, though some allow as few as three years and others as many as 21. The judgment itself doesn’t disappear at that point, but you lose the legal tools to force payment. Most jurisdictions let you extend the judgment by filing renewal paperwork before the deadline. Miss the deadline and there’s no grace period.
Federal judgment liens run on a different clock. A lien created under federal law lasts 20 years and can be renewed once for another 20 years, meaning it can encumber property for up to 40 years total. The renewal notice must be filed before the original 20-year period expires, and the court must approve it.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 3201 – Judgment Liens
Criminal Sentences and Probation
A sentence of incarceration lasts for the term the judge imposes, subject to parole eligibility and good-time credits where available. Probation has its own tiered limits. Under federal law, probation for a felony lasts between one and five years. For a misdemeanor, the maximum is five years. For an infraction, the cap is one year.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3561 – Sentence of Probation State probation terms vary but generally follow a similar structure. Probation can sometimes be terminated early if the person has complied with all conditions and the court finds continued supervision unnecessary.
Bankruptcy Orders
Bankruptcy produces several orders with different lifespans. The automatic stay, which halts creditor collection the moment a case is filed, lasts until the case is closed, dismissed, or the debtor receives a discharge. In a Chapter 7, that typically takes a few months. In a Chapter 13, the stay remains throughout the repayment plan.
A Chapter 13 repayment plan runs three to five years. If the debtor’s household income falls below the state median, the plan lasts three years unless the court approves a longer term. If income is at or above the median, the plan runs five years.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1322 – Contents of Plan The discharge order issued at the end of a completed plan is permanent and eliminates personal liability on qualifying debts for good.
Finding the Expiration Date on Your Order
The answer is almost always written on the order itself. Look for a specific calendar date, a described triggering event (“until the minor child reaches the age of 18”), or language indicating the order is permanent or indefinite. This usually appears near the top of the first page, in the title of the order, or in the final paragraphs of the ruling.
Orders without a specific end date are either indefinite or tied to an event that hasn’t happened yet. If the language is unclear or you’ve lost your copy, contact the clerk’s office at the court that issued the order. They keep records of all orders and can provide a certified copy.
Renewing or Modifying an Order Before It Expires
Most court orders can be changed before they expire, but you can’t just decide the order no longer applies. You have to go back to the court that issued it and file a motion.
For family law orders, the standard is a substantial change in circumstances since the order was issued. A major income shift, a parent’s relocation, or a significant change in the child’s needs can all qualify. For final civil judgments, the bar is higher. Federal Rule 60(b) allows relief for mistake, newly discovered evidence, or fraud, and motions on those grounds must be filed within one year of the judgment. Other grounds, such as the judgment being void or no longer equitable, have no fixed deadline but must still be raised within a “reasonable time.”2Legal Information Institute. Rule 60. Relief from a Judgment or Order State courts have their own versions of these rules on a similar framework.
If you have a protective order and still need protection after it expires, the burden is on you to act first. Renewal is not automatic. Put a reminder on your calendar at least 30 days before the expiration date so you have time to file. Once an order lapses, you’re starting over with a new petition, which creates a gap in protection that can be dangerous in domestic violence and stalking situations.
Violating an Order That’s Still Active
Ignoring an active court order can lead to contempt proceedings. Under federal law, contempt covers any disobedience or resistance to a court’s lawful order, and the penalty can include fines, imprisonment, or both.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 401 – Power of Court
One point that catches people off guard: even after an order expires, you can still face contempt for violations that occurred while it was active. Expiration doesn’t erase past disobedience. If you violated a restraining order on day 10 and it expired on day 14, you remain on the hook for what happened on day 10.